Ontario government rejects TDSB's reopening plan, saying it's too generous to teachers

The Ford Government has rejected Toronto District School Board (TDSB) proposals for reopening both elementary and secondary schools, claiming plans for both don't give students enough time in class and are too generous to teachers.

The rejection means parents still do not know the exact size of their children's classes or how or when the school day will start or end – with three weeks left before the scheduled start of the school year.

TDSB spokesperson Ryan Bird said the Ontario government took issue with the board's plan to reduce the average size of classrooms to 15 students for kindergarten to grade three, and 20 students for grades four to eight, which would have seen the board hire 200 additional teachers at a cost of $20 million.

Ending the elementary school day 48 minutes earlier was cited as the most affordable way to decrease class sizes and increase physical distancing, as teachers' prep time, required per the terms of the existing collective agreement, was moved earlier into the school day.

The Ford government also refused to approve the TDSB's plans for a "quadmester" high school year, saying it did not give students a minimum of 50 per cent of the school week physically in class.

The ministry informed the TDSB of its refusal in a memo submitted to the board on Aug. 14.

Education Minister Stephen Lecce says he expects students to be in classrooms the full 300 minutes they were each day last year.

"What we are asking unions to do is provide maximum flexibility for boards to enable them to teach a child for the entire duration of the day," he said

He said parents have approached him to voice the same view.

He also added that he is working with the City of Toronto to secure additional classroom space in municipal facilities.

A spokesperson for the Elementary Teachers Federation of Ontario, which represents elementary teachers at the TDSB, said the issue of prep time "didn't come up" in its discussions with the ministry or any Ontario school board.

"ETFO did not engage in discussions about preparation time with the Ministry and (Ontario Public School Boards Association)."

Premier Doug Ford said that numerous aspects of the back to school plan were tailored to suit the desires of teachers' unions.

"They wanted HVAC (improvements), we gave them the improvements, they wanted more sanitation, we gave them more sanitation – they wanted more reserves from the (school) boards, we gave them access to the reserves," Ford said.

"I just don’t know what more we can do."

He accused the education unions, which last week said the current reopening plan violates provincial health and safety regulations, of being obstinate.

"We work with everyone, absolutely everyone and it's just them," he said. "It's not a coincidence."

The province's original $309 million school reopening plan includes plans for a "hybrid" of in-person and online learning at the high school level, as well as some funds for the hiring of public health nurse and additional custodians.

But parents and school boards have criticized the plan's lack of physical distancing standards in the elementary grades, something called for in multiple reports published by the province's leading epidemiologists and pediatricians.

In response, Education Minister Stephen Lecce authorized boards to dip into their reserve funds to hire more teachers to increase physical distancing, and granted $50 million to upgrade ventilation systems in schools.

Speaking with CP24 on Monday, TDSB Chair Alexander Brown said that while the TDSB is prepared to go ahead with a conventional 300-minute learning day, doing so would carry a cost of $190 million.

He said that by ending the school day 48 minutes earlier the board can reduce class sizes for a fraction of the price.

“If the ministry is flexible they will let us do this,” he said. “They have to realize that one size cannot fit all in a pandemic and that we all need to be flexible. They asked us for our flexibility and I am asking them now for their flexibility on this.”

Bird says the board will consider changes meant to placate the ministry, as well as how much it plans to take from its reserve fund, before a meeting on Tuesday afternoon.