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Ontario schools will move indefinitely to online learning when classes resume next week after spring break, the province announced Monday, citing soaring rates of COVID-19.
Premier Doug Ford said community spread of the virus is too high to risk having students congregate after the break that began this week.
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He argued schools are safe but said the province must “do everything possible” to bring infections down during the “critical” next few weeks.
Education accounts for nearly a 42 per cent increase in Sunshine List April 11, 2021 Reading time: 3 min 30 s
By Phillip Blancher, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter Photo from Wikimedia Commons.
The education sector was the single largest growth area in reporting for the provincial Sunshine List. The annual report from the province was released March 19th.
The Ontario Sunshine List, which has reported provincial, municipal, school board and crown agency salaries above $100,000 since 1997, grew by 37,508 people in the last year. Some of that growth is attributed to the health care sector where the response to the COVID-19 pandemic has added positions and overtime.
Ellen Chambers is the chair of the Lakehead Public Schools board of trustees, which is calling for accelerated vaccinations for education workers. (Leith Dunick, tbnewswatch.com/FILE)
THUNDER BAY – Local groups are echoing calls from across Ontario to accelerate the vaccination of education workers, saying it could be crucial not only to protect the health of staff but also to keep schools open.
The provincial government announced last week it would add education workers to its current phase two vaccine roll-out, beginning with those who provide direct support to special education students and all staff in the provincially-designated “hot spots” of Toronto and Peel.
The announcement of the return to in-person learning in the city came Thursday from Dr. Janet DeMille, the medical officer of health for the Thunder Bay District Health Unit (TBDHU), who credited an improvement in the number and rate of COVID-19 cases in the district in recent weeks.
Teacher unions worry about safety
But the decision to return to in-person learning came against the recommendation of the teachers union.
Seeley said he has been advocating for schools to remain virtual at least until all education staff in Thunder Bay are vaccinated, with the goal of protecting them against COVID-19 variants, which reports suggest are more virulent and more deadly.