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Toronto Public Health revokes citywide order limiting in-person school attendance

Thestar.com
June 8, 2021

An order limiting in-person attendance of school-aged children across all educational settings -- including independently funded religious schools -- has been revoked by Toronto Public Health.

The order issued May 6 prohibited Jewish Orthodox schools, like Yeshiva Yesodei Hatorah, from operating religious services for children. Public Health revoked the order Saturday, and the services resumed Monday morning.

“Without the worship and religious practices they have known since their infancy, our children have been suffering and adrift,” said Rabbi Binyamin Septon, executive director of the school. “While we feel tremendous empathy for all parents and children who have been affected by the pandemic school lockdown, one can well imagine how much added disconnection and trauma our children feel when their intense religious life is wrenched away from them.”

The intention of the order was to “enhance” the provincial lockdown regulation, which only applies to schools that fall under the Education Act. Exceptions include the operation of licensed child-care centres within a school facility, as well as in-person learning for children with special education needs that cannot otherwise be accommodated through remote learning.

In a letter to education providers released June 5, Toronto public health director, chief nursing officer and COVID-19 liaison Nicole Welch explained the revocation of the order comes as rates of COVID cases in Toronto “have been on a downward trend over the past several weeks.”

“We believe the Order was an important and necessary measure at a critical point in the pandemic,” Welch wrote. “Many members of the school community at large have expressed this sentiment to us as well.”

Back in April, Yeshiva Yesodei Hatorah was one of three private religious schools in the Bathurst-Lawrence area reported to Toronto Public Health by the ward’s councillor Michael Colle, following complaints from area residents the schools were “fully operational, with students going to and from schools.”

The school was one of two to launch a charter challenge in the Ontario Superior Court of Justice on May 20, alleging the citywide public health order to close schools breached students’ and staff’s freedom of religion. The school argued the “spiritual and psychological well-being of children was severely compromised by the continued lockdown” and the class order worsened “ongoing trauma” for children who attend the school.

Toronto Public Health’s decision comes just days before a June 10 court hearing challenging the class order.

The school said it will continue to adhere closely to restrictions on social distancing and maintaining groups of 10 or less.