Two local teachers unions would be in favour of delaying the start of the school year to make sure all necessary safety measures are in place.
“Giving people the time and slowly starting things up is the way to do things. We have phases in the province for businesses, I don't know why we wouldn't have phases for schools,” says Erin Roy, President of the Ontario Secondary School Teachers Federation (OSSTF) District 9.
Education Minister Stephen Lecce announced Thursday that school boards can now access $500-million in reserve funds, in a one-time move to achieve physical distancing in classrooms.
However, Lecce said that the government would not mandate the specific size of the classroom, instead providing what he called "an element of flexibility."
Mario Spagnuolo, President of the Greater Essex Elementary Teachers Federation of Ontario (ETFO), was hoping the government was going to fund smaller class sizes of a 15-student cohort.
Speaking on AM800’s The Morning Drive, Spagnuolo said they're hearing from people on the front lines that they will not be able to implement the plan the province is envisioning. He points to two meter distancing not being possible with classes of over 30 students.
“To start off, to stagger in students in a very reasonable manner, it would make sense to start with a small class size and see how things go. We shouldn't jump in with both feet is what we're getting at,” he says.
According to Spagnuolo, teachers can't even get in the schools yet to set-up their classrooms.
“We would want the school year to start on time, unfortunately because the government dragged its heels it looks like the safe things would be to delay it and stagger it in,” he says.
When it comes to the funding announced by Lecce, Erin Roy says she's not sure why the province didn't allow school boards to access reserve funding from the beginning.
“I think it's a very reactionary approach which is making everyone in the education sector very nervous as we march toward having students in front of us. We all want to get back to work but we want to do it safely,” says Roy.
Locally, ETFO represents about 1,500 members and OSSTF has 2,000.
The original back-to-school plan announced by the province in late July will see elementary school students return five days a week while secondary students will open on an adapted model, with class cohorts of approximately 15 students and a mix of online and in-person learning.
Students in Grade 4 to 12 will be required to wear non-medical or cloth masks while in school. Students in Kindergarten to Grade 3 will be encouraged but not required to wear masks in common spaces.