PublishedThursday,July30,20205:41AMEDT LastUpdatedThursday,July30,20202:48PMEDT TheFordgovernment'sschoolreopeningplanforSeptemberrequiresallstudentsingrades4to12towearmaskswhenindoors,withhighschoolstudentsinOntario'slargercitiesattendingclassonalternatingdays. Theplan,whichincludes$309millioninadditionalfundsforschoolboards,saysmaskuseforsmallerchildrenwillnotbemandatorybuttheywillbe"encouragedtowearmasksincommonspaces." Undertheplan,highschoolstudentsin24schoolboardsincludingallboardsintheGTAwillberequiredtoattendclassonalternatingdays,withclasssizeskeptto15inmostcases. Theaimistohavestudentsattendclassinpersonatleast50percentofthetimetheynormallywould,andforstudentstobekeptinthesame15-pupilcohortforasmanyoftheirdifferentclassesastimetableswillallow. Meanwhileinelementaryschools,officialsspeakingonbackgroundonThursdaysaidclasssizeswillnotdeviatefromtheaveragesmandatedbeforethepandemicbegan,whichinGrade4forinstanceis24.5students. Elementaryclasseswillbecohortedthroughtheday,eatinglunchtogetherandgoingoutforstaggeredrecessintheirclassroomgroups. Desksandtablesinclassroomswillbekeptapartasmuchaspossible,butministryofficialssaytheycannotguaranteetwo,orevenonemetredistancinginallsettings. TheguidelinesreleasedThursdayinsomewaysexceed,butinotherwaysfallbehindwhatwascalledforWednesdaybyepidemiologistsandpediatriciansacrossOntario. Inadocumentpublishedby SickKidsHospital,doctorsrecommendedmaskuseonlyatthehighschoolandmiddleschoollevel,andencourageddistancingbetweendesksinclassroomsofatleastonemetre. Thursday'sannouncementcomesaweekbeforetheprovince’s72schoolboardswereexpectedtolayouttheirplansfortheacademicschoolyeartotheprovince. TheFordgovernmenthadpreviouslyaskedschoolboardstopreparefor threescenariosinthefall:regularin-classinstructionwithphysicaldistancingmeasuresinplace,online-onlylearningandahybridmodelblendingbothapproacheswithclasssizeslimited. Lecceinitiallyexpressedapreferenceforthehybridmodel,whichwouldseenomorethan15studentsattendingclassonalternatingdaysorweeks. ButmorerecentlyheandFordexpressedpreferenceforfull-time,in-classlearning. Governmentoppositioncritics,schoolboardsandunionshavesaidthatifclassesaretoresumefulltime,theprovincewillhavetosignificantlyincreaseeducationfundingsothatstaffandstudentscanbekeptsafeduringthepandemic. The$309millionprovidedbytheFordgovernmentisinadditiontotheincreaseof$736millioninboardbudgetsfortheyear,andbreaksdowntoinclude$80millionforadditionalteachersandcustodians,$60millionforpersonalprotectiveequipmentforstaff,$50milliontohireasmanyas500publichealthnursestosupporttheschoolsystemand$24milliontoboosttheprovincialnetworkoflabsscreeningforCOVID-19. Itisnotclearwhether$80millionwillhirethenumberofstaffneededtoadequatelydeliverclassinstructionasdescribedintheplan. Theplanalsoincludessomeunspecifiedamountoffundingtopurchasemasksforstudents. Allstudentsortheirparentswillhavetocompleteachecklistontheirhealthatthestartofeachday,andanyonefeelingunwellwillhavetostayhome. Anyonewhodevelopssymptomswhileatschoolwillbeseparatedfromallothers. AllsickpupilsmayneedaCOVID-19test. Iftheytestnegative,theymayreturntoschool24hoursaftersymptomsend. Iftheytestpositive,theymaynotreturntoschooluntiladvisedtodosobyalocalpublichealthunit. Anystudentwhowishestocontinuelearningfromhomewillbeallowedtodoso. Theplanalsocallsfortwicedailycleaningofallschoolbuses,and$40milliontohireadditionaldriversandprovidethemwithpersonalprotectiveequipment. Therewillbeassignedseatingonallbuses,withstudentsfromthesamehouseholdorstudentsinthesameclasscohortatthesecondarylevelrequiredtosittogether. |
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