Enough smoke and mirrors; it’s the province that’s failing us
(Written August 17, 2020)
The goal is arguably the same for all of us — a safe and lasting return to school. For our children; for parents; and for our economy, a reopening of schools is vital, and it can be done. But there is a right way to do it, and Ontario’s current plan, which will see 30 or more students in rooms with poor ventilation and not enough space for distancing, is not it. Despite Premier Ford and Minister Lecce’s recent attempts to shift blame onto the teachers’ unions, the responsibility for the current schools disaster lies squarely with the government. The province’s refusal to fund and implement a safe plan based on the evidence and advice of experts threatens to propel Ontario into a second wave faster and further than we need to go, and fails all Ontarians.
The evidence and experts agree: smaller class sizes are crucial to a safe and lasting reopening of schools. Denmark, Norway, Finland, Germany, Greece, Belgium, France, Switzerland, and B.C. all returned to school in the spring with smaller class sizes, and were able to manage the reopening successfully. Israel, on the other hand, returned with full-sized classes, with disastrous results. Within weeks, daily case counts jumped from below 100 (similar to our current trend in Ontario) to 1500 and above, overwhelming hospitals and forcing renewed shutdowns. A lead advisor on the plan has stated that it was a failure, and urged other countries not to repeat these mistakes.
Our leading experts tell us the same: small class sizes are needed. The most recent Sick Kids report on reopening schools stressed that we must prioritize reducing class sizes for a safe return. This is in line with the ongoing advice of Dr. Theresa Tam to Canadians to avoid the “three Cs”: closed spaces, crowded places, and close contact — all of which would be inherent in a return to school with full-sized classes.
While Premier Ford and Minister Lecce continue to claim that Ontario’s plan follows expert advice, a growing chorus of experts has emerged to dispute this. Dr. Ronald Cohn, President and CEO of Sick Kids, has stated he cannot support a plan in which physical distancing would be compromised by large classes. Toronto Public Health has raised concerns with the plan’s large class sizes, as have other public health units.
If this is not enough to raise alarm bells about Ontario’s plan, the clamour from other voices perhaps should be. Despite Ford and Lecce’s claims, there is unprecedented unity among stakeholders in education right now: school boards; the Ontario Principals’ Council; the Ontario Public School Boards’ Association; the Ontario Student Trustees’ Association; local public health units; all four teachers’ unions; and unions representing other education workers are united in their demands for a safe plan with smaller classes. Add to this nearly a quarter million parents, grandparents, teachers, and community members who signed a petition demanding smaller classes, and it’s hard to understand who the current plan might cater to.
And yet, not only is the province still refusing to reduce class sizes; they are standing in the way of efforts by the Toronto District School Board to reduce classes in their own district. With limited funding available, the TDSB came up with the best plan they could to achieve smaller classes: all elementary teachers would be mobilized to teach 15–20 students for the entire day. Since all teachers would be assigned a homeroom class, few teachers would need to be hired, making the plan financially feasible. But with no teachers available for prep time relief, the school day would end 48 minutes early for teachers to receive legally mandated preparation time. Despite the fact that this would have reduced class sizes and improved safety for students and staff, as well as families and communities, the Ministry rejected the plan.
Failure to follow the evidence and advice of experts is reckless. Standing in the way of reasonable efforts to keep Ontarians safe is unconscionable, and raises grave questions about the commitment of the province to the safety of our children, school staff, and wider communities.
A safe return to school will cost money — more than the $30 million provided to hire additional teachers (which could pay for one out of every 16 Ontario schools to hire one additional teacher); and more than the $500 million “unlocked” from the school boards’ reserves, much of which is not actually available for school boards to use. But the costs of pushing ahead with a plan that defies evidence and expert advice; a plan that jeopardizes the hard work of Ontarians up to this point and threatens to plunge us into a second wave far worse than we need to experience; a plan that may put us into lockdown again, overburden our healthcare system, and disrupt our economy — these costs will be so much greater. Ontarians have not made the tremendous efforts of the last five months just to throw away our relative success with a failed return to school.
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