Health Minister Christine Elliott says that it is “certainly possible” that the Ford government could opt for a regional approach when it comes to the resumption of in-person learning.
All Ontario schools were switched to remote-learning only following a one-week break in early April but with the province planning to enter the first phase of its reopening plan in a few weeks time and the school year nearing an end the calls to resume in-person instruction before its too late are growing louder.
Speaking with CP24 on Wednesday morning, Elliott acknowledged that Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. David Williams is “anxious” to see students returned to the classroom but she said that case counts needs to be “low enough for that to be safe because schools reflect what is happening in the community.
She said that it is “certainly possible” that schools could therefor be reopened in some regions in June while remaining shuttered in others but she acknowledged that the final decision will be made by Williams.
“It is something we are watching very closely and I know (Education) Minister (Stephen) Lecce wants to make sure it is safe for students to return to school at the appropriate time,” she said.
Elliott’s comments come on the heels of a group of doctors releasing an open letter in which they warm that the prolonged closure of schools has us “on the cusp of a generational catastrophe.”
Liberal Leader Steven Del Duca also lamented the closure of schools during a virtual press conference on Wednesday morning in which he also called on the Ford government to give individual public health units the latitude to decide whether or not it is safe to resume in-person learning.
“In all the conversations I have had with parents, frankly I haven’t met a single parent whose preference is to not have their kid back in the school as long as the circumstances are safe and healthy,” he said. “If every single local public health unit says that the safest and most responsible thing to do is to get to the end of this school year continuing to use virtual learning and redouble our efforts for the fall I am fine with that but if there are a handful of public health units that have looked at the research and have looked at their own case counts locally and have made a decision that it is safe and responsible to reopen schools then I am fine with that too. What I don’t trust is Doug Ford to make a one size fits all decision. I think that would be a mistake.”
Ford has resisted calls to reopen schools
Ontario’s Science Advisory Table has generally supported the resumption of in-person learning, while acknowledging that a return to classes in June would likely result in a “manageable” six to 11 per cent increase in COVID-19 case counts.
Ford, however, has largely resisted calls to reopen schools so far.
Speaking with reporters last week, he called the potential for an 11 per cent increase in case counts “very concerning” and something “we cannot afford right now.”
Meanwhile, Toronto Medical Officer of Health Dr. Eileen de Villa has been largely non-committal about the possibility of resuming in-person learning in June.
“I will say this: we have had regular conversations with our provincial counterparts and we have had regular conversations with our local public health counterparts all around the province. We have noted that we continue to have relatively high rates of disease here but we have also been very clear that we are interested in ensuring that or children have that opportunity as early as possible to get the benefits of in-person learning,” she told reporters during a briefing on Wednesday afternoon. “I would like to actually be able to see what the province makes their decision on and what they decide to move forward with and once we know what they are proposing then we can look at our specific data and understands what the circumstances are.”
