Toronto school board calls for resumption of mask wearing indoors but won't mandate it

Cp24.com
April 14, 2022
Chris Fox

Toronto's biggest school board is urging all staff and students to resume wearing masks indoors, but it says it will not make it mandatory, even after trustees in Ottawa voted in favour of doing so with or without the support of the provincial government.

The Ottawa-Carleton District School Board voted in favour of a motion requiring that masks be worn in all of its buildings during a meeting on Tuesday, effectively going against the wishes of the Ford government, which removed the mandate in most settings last month.

Speaking with CP24 on Wednesday morning, the Toronto District School Board's Director of Education, Colleen Russell-Rawlins said that the province should mandate masking in schools "to get us through the sixth wave" of the pandemic.

But she said that until that happens, the board's hands are largely tied.

"Right now, without the provincial government changing its mandate or public health making additional mandates or statements, I don't see it changing," she said.

In a letter sent to parents Wednesday, the TDSB did say that they are asking that students wear a well-fitting mask given the uptick in COVID cases, though it is not mandatory to do so.

Durham Region Medical Officer of Health Dr. Robert Kyle also sent a letter to school communities on Wednesday advising them that he "strongly recommends" that students and staff continue to wear a "well fitted three-layer mask in shared indoor spaces" given a recent surge in COVID activity.

"While the TDSB takes its direction from the province, which does not require masks, given the increase in COVID-19 cases and the high number of absences, we as a system, are asking that all staff and students please wear a well-fitting mask when indoors in schools to limit the spread of COVID-19 and help minimize disruption from COVID-related absences," the TDSB said in its letter while acknowledging that it "remains a personal decision."

Ottawa policy takes effect immediately

In a memo sent to parent late Wednesday afternoon, the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board confirmed that its new mandatory masking policy will take effect immediately and will apply to students, staff and visitors.

The board said that the policy will only apply inside its schools and not on school buses at this time.

The decision to revive mandatory masking in the Ottawa board comes less than a month after the Ford government lifted the mask requirement for most settings, including schools.

On Wednesday, Russell-Rawlins told CP24 that the TDSB continues to "strongly encourage staff parents and our students to wear masks every day in our schools and our centres."

But she suggested that any decision on making masks mandatory in the classroom will have to be made by the provincial government.

"Really, what we need is the provincial government to mandate masking to get us through the sixth wave," she said.

The TDSB previously asked Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Kieran Moore to allow for more time prior to the lifting of the mask mandate, however that request was denied.

During a briefing earlier this week, Moore defended the decision to lift the mask mandate in schools, noting that there has been "no significant rise in the risk of children ending up in intensive care units."

The latest data from Public Health Ontario suggests that there are currently 42 individuals between the ages of five and 19 in hospital with COVID-19. The number of children in intensive care with COVID-19 is three.

"We've not seen any significant threat to the health of children," Moore insisted.

Several provinces have kept requirement in place for schools

While a number of provinces have lifted the mask mandate in most settings, some have kept the requirement in place for public schools.

That includes Nova Scotia, which announced on Wednesday that it would continue mandating masks in schools until at least May 20.

Speaking with CP24, Ottawa-Carleton District School Board Chair Lynn Scott said it remains to be seen whether the province will prevent the board from making masks mandatory again.

But she said that trustees felt doing so was appropriate, giving rising levels of transmission and increased fear in the community.

"That is a question I can't really answer," she said when asked whether the new policy could be blocked. "Certainly, it is very clear that Dr. Moore and our medical officer of health have not seen fit to mandate masks in schools in Ottawa and that means the board is on its own. Nevertheless, eight trustees who were concerned about the rising levels of COVID in Ottawa decided that we should have a mask mandate in our schools again and that resulted in last night's vote."

In Toronto, Medical Officer of Health Dr. Eileen de Villa has previously suggested that she is no longer able to mandate that masks be worn in schools after the province changed legislation to remove the ability of local health officials to issue letters of instruction.

Halton District School Board Trustee Andrea Grebenc had said that she planned to move a motion to reintroduce a mask mandate in that board, but during a meeting on Wednesday, she said that doing so, without the support of the province, would be "futile."

Staff at the meeting did say that absences in the board had increased by about three percentage points since the mandate was dropped.