Local teachers unions are lambasting the government's latest back-to-school plan.
“A lot of this plan just really doesn’t make sense,” said Jen Hare, Ontario Secondary School Teachers' Federation (OSSTF) bargaining unit president for Simcoe County.
On Aug. 3, the Ministry of Education released its back-to-school guidance plan to be used by school boards across Ontario to inform their localized September plans.
While the Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit say they see the guidance as an ‘appropriate balance,’ some local teachers unions are warning that it is little more than "hygiene theatre."
According to the guidance document, the province is recommending extracurricular activities resume, relaxing rules on using shared spaces such as libraries and cafeterias, and continuing to require masks indoors for students in Grade 1 and up.
The plan places an emphasis on outdoor activities – allowing kids to play during recess with friends from other classes – and allowing shared materials again, such as toys in Kindergarten.
Students will be attending in person for full days, five days a week, unless they have opted for remote learning. Class cohorts will remain in place.
“The plan released today, in essence, is a non-plan. It is not substantively different from what was occurring when schools were closed in April,” said Allyn Janicki, president of the Simcoe Muskoka branch of OECTA (Ontario English Catholic Teachers' Association) representing secondary teachers.
“This is now the third school year that will be impacted by COVID-19 – this document does not address core issues to ensure safety, and demonstrates that little has been learned by this government regarding pandemic management in schools over the past two school years.”
Janicki said cohorting is only effective if there were rigour to the maintenance of the cohort.
“This is not the case in this plan. Secondary students travel on buses, are scheduled to attend two classes a day, and are able to congregate and unmask during lunch, all with different students – this is not cohorting,” she said.
Extracurriculars and opening of common spaces is also concerning to Janicki, as she said it’s one thing to say extracurriculars are returning, but another to figure out how it will work logistically.
“This is the red herring of this announcement; nothing more than a distraction,” she said.
Kent MacDonald, president of the Simcoe Muskoka branch of OECTA representing elementary teachers, said it concerns him that the plan isn’t much different than the one put forward for the 2020 school year.
“Was I expecting more? Yes. But based upon last year’s rollout, they’ve had all this time. I don’t think the government understands the timelines school boards work under. Things don’t just magically appear. Last year was really challenging. Our school boards are in a better spot now,” he said.
MacDonald said there are other factors to take into consideration when determining whether extracurriculars should be starting up again.
“There’s pressure now placed on teachers to volunteer again to do these (extracurriculars). Teachers enjoy doing them because it’s a connection to students and the community, but I think there will be some that are apprehensive,” he said.
MacDonald said he does worry that some teachers will feel pressure from parents if they aren’t comfortable running those programs.
“They’re kind of pitting people against each other,” he said. “There’s been a lot of the blame game the past year or so. As a union president, I’m not telling anyone not to (run extracurriculars). In any year, it’s always voluntary.”
Looking forward, MacDonald notes that the SMCDSB took the extra step last year of having students in Kindergarten also wear masks, even though the province only mandated mask wearing from Grade 1 and up. He hopes that policy will still be in place this year.
“I think that would be a positive step. Younger students can wear them as well, and that just protects everyone,” he said.
MacDonald said, if true social distancing were the goal, class sizes, particularly in elementary grades, would need to be reduced. He acknowledged that's not practical.
“It’s hard. We have a shortage of occasional teachers. I don’t know where all those teachers would come from,” he said.
Hare said she feels the plan falls short.
“It’s extremely disappointing. It’s very much in line with some of the other decisions we’ve seen from Minister (of Education Stephen) Lecce and the Ford government,” said Hare. “We’re still looking at classrooms that are overextended, that could have up to 36 students in them. We’re looking at cafeteria spaces that could have 1,500 students in them, but we’re still, for some reason, cohorting students when they’re in the classroom.”
If you remove the cohorting of classrooms, Hare said the plan looks like a regular school year.
“The term we keep using around our executive table is ‘hygiene theatre.’ When you add in kids mixing from classrooms doing sports, extracurriculars, at lunchtime... we have the increased risks of (COVID) variants that are going to cause havoc in our schools.”
“This plan does not come close to keeping people safe,” said Hare.
As the OSSTF represents secondary teachers and all secondary schools across Simcoe County still employ the hybrid-learning model, Hare worries that teachers will become burnt out with the addition of extracurriculars to their plate at this time while also trying to juggle teaching in-class and online.
“A lot of our members really enjoy the extracurriculars. They enjoy helping out with a sports team or a club. The problem is the increased workload we’re still dealing with,” she said. “Classrooms still aren’t functioning as they used to. I’m just not sure where the extra time is going to come from.”
Now that the Simcoe County school boards are reviewing the guidelines before releasing their own back-to-school plans later this month, there are a few things the school board could add to their plan that Hare said would make teachers feel safer.
“(We’ve asked for) better masks (like N95s) for educators who are working with students with special needs who don’t wear masks. We’ve asked about renting spaces to have larger classes,” said Hare.
With the school boards reviewing the new guidelines, they will be working in conjunction with the Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit to come up with back-to-school plans for individual schools across Simcoe County.
“Ontario’s guidance for the upcoming school year is very reasonable – it strikes an appropriate balance at this time between resuming a much fuller in-person school experience while still maintaining important COVID-19 precautions,” said Dr. Lisa Simon, associate medical officer of health for the Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit.
“In addition to COVID-19 measures, I am pleased to see the emphasis in this new guidance on support for the mental health and well-being of all students,” she said.
Simon said the health unit will continue to work with local school boards and schools in supporting ongoing COVID-19 vaccine uptake, in preparation for the coming school year.
“Our school public health nurses look forward to resuming their work with schools, beginning in September,” she said.
Representatives from the Simcoe County branch of the Elementary Teachers Federation of Ontario, which represents elementary teachers for the public school board, did not return a request for comment by publication time.
