ETFO president: ‘It makes no sense’ for students to return to class with province under lockdown

The Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario (ETFO) is asking medical officers of health in public health units across the province to reconsider the resumption of in-class learning next week.

President Sam Hammond says it makes no sense for the government to send students, teachers and education workers back to school while the province is locked for another two to three weeks.

“Educators know that in-person learning provides the most effective and equitable learning environment, but unfortunately we are at the height of this pandemic. It makes no sense for the government to send students, teachers and education workers back to school while the province is locked for another two to three weeks,” Hammond said on Wednesday.

“Despite repeated calls for adequate safety measures, the government has refused to implement them in a misguided effort to save money, jeopardizing the health and safety of students, educators, and their families.”

Elementary level students are scheduled to return to their schools next Monday and high school students are set to resume in-person learning on January 25.

“There’s a 10 percent daily increase in ICU occupancy in Ontario right now. This is not the right time to restart in-person learning,” said Dr. David Fisman, Professor of Epidemiology at the University of Toronto.

“We have to assume that there is a lot of asymptomatic COVID-19 in schools. It is irresponsible to send children and educators back to schools without knowing for sure that it is safe to do so.”

Hammond is also pushing for broad in-school asymptomatic testing when the students do return to their classrooms.

“The provincial government’s failure to listen to the advice of medical professionals has resulted in the current crisis we are facing,” ETFO’s president noted.

“So now, we are asking Public Health Units to use their authority to reconsider the decision to resume in-person learning for all elementary students on January 11, particularly in communities where the rate of community transmission is high, and to implement asymptomatic surveillance testing in schools to ensure that we can better understand the role that schools are playing in the spread of the virus and base future decisions on sound data.”

On Monday, Toronto’s top doctor said while health officials ought to be “constantly assessing and re-assessing” circumstances of the virus, she believes transmission across schools remains low.

Jessica Lyons of the Ontario Parent Action Network has said many parents, including herself, are “quite terrified” at the prospect of another complete shutdown of in-person learning like what was imposed during the first wave of the pandemic.