Newmarket high school students plan to join their peers across Ontario today in walking out of class at 1:15 p.m. to protest education reforms proposed by the Ford government.
In recent weeks, Ontario students have taken to social media to voice their concerns about increased class sizes from 22 to 28 students, a classroom cellphone ban, a reworked math and sex-ed curriculum, potential teacher job loss, mandatory online learning, cuts to free tuition, and more.
York Region District School Board spokesperson Licinio Miguelo this morning said that the board is aware its students from various secondary schools across the region will participate in this afternoon’s protest.
“The walkout is not a school-sanctioned event,” Miguelo said. “Our principals are talking to their student leaders about civic action and the different ways they can take such action without leaving the classroom.”
Newmarket’s high school principals are not stopping students from walking out, but Miguelo said that students who do will be marked absent and be responsible for making up lost time.
“Our main focus for schools is student safety and we’ve reached out to our York Regional Police liaisons to let them know that we anticipate a walkout,” Miguelo said. “We want to ensure that the walkout is done in a civil way, and a safe way.”
In a statement released this morning, York public school board chairperson Corrie McBain said it has not yet received details from the province’s education ministry regarding the proposed changes to the way education will be funded and delivered, including board budgets, curriculum and class sizes.
“On March 6, our board took a strong position to outline the potential implications related to the proposed changes in funding for the Ontario Autism Program,” McBain wrote. “Since then, the provincial government listened to the voices of concerned parents and service providers and delayed the implementation of their changes and will begin consultation on the matter in the coming weeks.
“As we have already demonstrated, it is our intent to strongly advocate for the educational needs of our students and their families and we will do so in this case as well. As we finalize our review of how this will directly affect learning and well-being, we will provide a thorough response to the provincial government on behalf of the students and families of York Region District School Board.”
The board is reviewing the Ontario government’s proposed changes to class sizes, teacher hiring, the Education Quality and Accountability Office, e-learning, wide-ranging curriculum changes, and a classroom cellphone ban.
Check back here for more on this developing story.
