The Toronto District School Board says it will be dispensing medical masks to its students instead of the three-ply cloth masks provided by the province.
TDSB trustees approved a motion Wednesday evening to purchase level three medical-grade masks, which will be distributed to students.
“While students may continue to wear their own mask as per the TDSB’s COVID-19 Mask Procedure, one medical mask per day will be made available to all students until the end of the school year should they wish to wear them,” the board said in a news release.
The TDSB noted that the projected cost of the masks ranges from $444,000 to $2 million. The board said it will be dipping into its its reserve funds to make the purchase as the Ministry of Education will not be providing support.
“Medical masks can be cost-prohibitive for many families. By providing medical masks, the TDSB is ensuring that all students have access to high-quality PPE and greater protection against COVID-19,” TDSB Chair Alexander Brown said in a statement.
“We continue to urge the Ministry of Education to fully fund and reimburse school boards for all pandemic costs, including providing medical masks for students.”
Colleen Russell-Rawlins, TDSB’s director of education, added that in addition to enhanced protection from COVID-19, the medical masks will also provide families “with greater peace of mind.”
Before schools reopened to in-person learning on Jan. 17, the province announced the measures it is taking to ensure a safe return, including the distribution of more than four million three-ply cloth masks for students.
However, parents and education advocates voiced concerns about the masks, saying they were too big and not protective enough against the Omicron variant.
The TDSB said it will provide more information to families as soon as the timeline of delivery is confirmed.
