A trustee with the Rainbow District School Board expressed her concerns this week about the removal of mask mandates in Ontario schools.
Margaret Stringer, who represents the Manitoulin Island area on the board, spoke out on the topic during the discussion period at the board’s March 22 meeting.
She said while the pandemic is not over, it seems like we’re moving closer to the new normal, with events such as in-person graduation returning this spring, and remote learning perhaps becoming a relic of the past, and “that is great news.”
“With that in mind, the provincial government’s decision to drop masking mandates in schools, effective yesterday (Monday, March 21), was very concerning,” said Stringer.
“That decision flew in the face of recommendations from the government's own science advisory table, the Children's Health Coalition, which is Sick Kids Hospital and Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario, and many others who urged the government to wait a couple of weeks in order to see the impact of March Break.
“The decision comes at a time when testing is extremely limited and publicly available data which would inform personal decision making is minimal.”
While the province has told boards they’re not allowed to implement their own mask mandates, private schools are allowed to do so, said Stringer, and “this seems an odd double standard.
“All of that said, we cannot change this decision,” Stringer continued. “And so we must all continue to adapt and do the best we can given the circumstances.”
She pointed to advice from Dr. Penny Sutcliffe, medical officer of health with Public Health Sudbury & Districts, who recommends people continue to wear masks, as COVID-19 rates are higher in this area than in the rest of the province.
“To that end, I strongly encourage all students and staff to follow the advice of Dr. Sutcliffe,” Stringer said.
Rainbow board director of education Bruce Bourget also addressed the dropping of mask mandates in Ontario schools, along with additional public health measures including cohorting, distancing and the confirmation of health screening.
“We are turning the page on this new guidance with cautious optimism,” he said.
Bourget said personal choice is now at the forefront in this phase of the pandemic. “We do ask that everyone continue to be kind and considerate to each other as we respect personal choice,” he said.
The Rainbow board’s chair, Bob Clement, who represents the Espanola area, said he attended a basketball game at Espanola High School on March 22.
He said “the rules were off, so the public was there,” referring to the public also now being allowed to attend events in school facilities.
“Great attendance,” Clement said. “So it was just a test for me to see who was wearing masks or wasn’t wearing a mask. I’d say about five per cent of the kids were wearing masks. There were no masks, hardly, to be seen.
“So a few adults had masks on, and I was surprised to see several staff didn’t have their masks on, so that was different.”
The agenda originally had trustees set to rescind a motion regarding masking in Rainbow board schools that was passed back in September 2020.
However, it was pointed out that the matter could not be dealt with at this week’s meeting, as a notice of motion needed to come first.
That notice of motion was put forward during the March 22 meeting, and the matter will be addressed at the April 19 board meeting.
