Dear Premier Ford and Stephen Lecce,
I have now sat for a few days with the Ontario government’s decision regarding students’ return to school this fall and have a few questions I’d appreciate having answered.
Before I begin, I do want to be extremely clear that I want to be back at work full-time in my classroom, interacting with my students, running a successful instrumental music program like I did pre-pandemic. I have never lost sight of, or minimized the role public education plays in prioritizing and supporting all children’s access to quality education, mental health and social services, nutrition, social time and extra-curricular programming.
My feelings about a full time return to school for elementary students is irrelevant here as I am expected to return and am not interested in a debate. I’ve chosen instead to seek assistance and clear answers to many questions I have so that my return to school next month allows me to keep all children, their families, and my colleagues as safe as possible.
Although it may seem easier to respond below with financial information, please don’t. I do not make or have any influence over financial decisions made within the school system.
1. As presently mandated in all indoor public spaces, please clarify if students and teachers are also expected to maintain 6 feet of social distance at all times when masked. If not, please state why.
2. Please outline visually how a classroom of 20, 25 and 30 students will be set up given the dimensions of an average classroom and portable and the existing furniture. Most classrooms abandoned single desks and workspaces years ago.
3. Using the outline from #2 above, please demonstrate how a teacher should move within the classroom to support student learning.
4. Please share how you envision maintaining social distancing measures when hundreds of students access the same washroom with 6 stalls, and over 50 adults at my school access the same two staff washrooms.
5. After clear expectations have been taught and practised, please list what actions are to be taken when students repeatedly choose to ignore safety protocols and move out of their designated area - in the hall, classroom, bus, line up, etc.
6. When one or more students come to school feeling ill or become ill during the day and need to leave the classroom and go home, please advise us where these students would wait. What is our protocol when a parent is unable to pick up their child? Are we to ignore our natural instincts to be empathetic as they are separated from others? Can we ensure that their peer relationships won’t suffer similarly to when head lice is found?
7. Tantrums. Please list how class evacuations should be handled when a child behaves in a manner that necessitates that all peers leave the room. Too many children, when angry, lash out at those physically and emotionally closest to them. It is fair to expect more difficulty as students return from being away from routine for 6 months. Teachers always struggle emotionally when their students are inadvertently put at risk.
8. Students, parents, teachers and administrators take pride in the extra-curricular programs offered throughout the day. For many, especially those who struggle academically, they are often the only enjoyable part of their school day. Please list the considerations you have made to address the mental health issues stemming from a lack of these programs which help maintain student engagement within the classroom.
9. Supply teachers. Please list the protocol you have advised administrators to use when there are no supply teachers available to cover classes. Is it safe to assume that administrators will not be able to distribute the students to other classrooms as they have been doing for years now? It is not unusual in flu season to have multiple classrooms without a teacher.
10 Adults have been taking extraordinary care in their own homes to ensure surfaces are kept clean and windows are opened for fresh air. Please list the steps the Ontario government has taken within each school board to ensure ventilation systems are up to date and in working order. We know transmission has occurred through poorly ventilated small spaces and the majority of classrooms are not equipped with windows that open.
11. Prior to the pandemic, extra-curricular activities were one of the only ways during recesses and breaks to keep students engaged, away from peer conflict and their screens. Sports, extra-curricular activities and moving outside of their academic group is prohibited. Please list the suggestions your panel of experts have considered to help us keep a healthy, safe, violent-free environment.
12 Staff spend weeks considering friendships, teacher relationships and learning needs when setting up classrooms. Please list the steps you have considered to assist the many students who will be returning to a socially isolating learning environment without the opportunity to even meet up with their friends and other teachers during breaks.
13. Please list what actions you have taken to assist bus drivers who are now expected to ensure children sit in assigned seating throughout their ride. Can parents assume extra funding has been specifically given to transportation costs to eliminate the need for bus transfers?
14. When a parent chooses to drive their child(ren) to school instead of using the provided school bus, who is responsible for ensuring these students remain in their assigned cohort prior to outdoor supervised times?
15. How are hundreds of students able to get daily exercise during inclement weather when they can’t move around in their classrooms?
16. Please list the considerations your medical professionals have offered to help us support the mental health of our students who are returning to a completely different, very restrictive environment.
17. Please list the considerations and supports in place for the thousands of education workers who are also parents who may have to leave work quickly to care for/pick up an ill child and no flexibility in coverage can occur.
18. Since the vast majority of children have been isolated from their peers and away from most public indoor spaces - playgrounds, parks, shopping venues, sporting arenas - what evidence presently exists that reassures parents that the impact of COVID-19 on children’s health will be minimal. Additionally, please list the protocol to be followed when a student or teacher tests positive. What tracking system has been created to date?
19. Please explain the medical reasoning behind secondary students returning part time and elementary students full time when it is more reasonable to expect older children to understand and follow social distancing rules.
20. Now that it has become extremely apparent that schools and educators have become the answer for so many societal issues - nutrition, healthcare, mental health - list the steps you have taken to fund it accordingly.
I can appreciate the difficulty that exists when weighing the needs of our children, their parents, our unique communities and the overall economy. However I urge you to please answer these questions publicly to reassure children, parents and education workers that you have thoughtfully considered our children to be your priority.
Thank you.
Lesley Hallett, Owen Sound, ON
