ONTARIO
Unions calling for return of mask mandates at schoolsNiagara teachers report fewer students in class
By Allan Benner
Standard Reporter
Mon., April 11, 2022
Niagara’s elementary school teachers are increasingly at the head of half-empty classrooms as students are off sick with COVID-19, says the labour groups representing them.
Jennifer McArthur, president of the Ontario English Catholic Teachers’ Association Niagara elementary division, said teachers are reporting “rising numbers of student absences as a result of COVID-19, in some cases totalling a quarter to half of the class.”
“It’s not just students who are absent, teachers are also getting COVID,” she said. “When teachers and education workers have to stay home to isolate, that leaves their colleagues scrambling to cover classes or managing two classes that have been put together due to the shortage of occasional teachers. Last week alone, there were schools with absence rates of more than 20 per cent.”
Elementary Teachers Federation of Ontario Niagara local president Brian Barker said the union expected a “small uptick of cases once the safety measures were lifted.”
“But the reported number of 100,000 cases a day in the province of Ontario is extremely concerning,” he said.
“It’s unfortunate that the government removed the tracking and reporting of COVID cases in schools, so it is hard to nail down the data, but there have definitely been more teacher absences that have been left unfilled due to sickness since the mandates were lifted,” he said in an email.
“If I had to infer why that was the case, I would surmise that it’s due to the introduction of the new BA.2 variant and the lifting of the safety precautions that protected teachers, children and education workers.”
Monday, École élémentaire LaMarsh in Niagara Falls reported 31.2 per cent of staff and students were absent — enough to require the school to inform Niagara Region Public Health. Absences of more than 20 per cent were reported at 15 Niagara school facilities, including Prince Philip Public School in St. Catharines where 29.1 per cent of staff and students were absent.
As absentee rates increased across Ontario, the Catholic teachers’ association issued a statement last week, calling on the provincial government to immediately reinstate a mask mandate in Ontario’s schools.
In an email, McArthur said the teachers she represents primarily want to be in schools and working in person with their students.
“They know that students enjoy the many benefits of in-person learning. Unfortunately, we are now witnessing the consequences of the (Premier Doug) Ford government’s decision to lift masking mandates in schools following the March break and teachers are calling and emailing to inform us of what is happening,” she said.
McArthur blamed increasing infections on the provincial government’s decision to lift mask requirements and other protections for schools.
“None of this was inevitable. At every turn, the Ford government has made short-sighted, politically motivated decisions that threaten health and safety, and leave parents, students, educators and public health units in the dark about the presence of COVID-19 in our schools and communities,” she said.
“It has been painful for teachers to watch students suffer through repeated in-class learning disruptions, negatively impacting their mental health and academic well-being. They want to be healthy and at work, teaching to a full class of healthy and engaged students.
Barker agreed, adding, “Ford needs to address this with immediacy; if not, it will only cause further disruption to in-person learning, and have negative impacts on the health and safety of education workers, students and their families.
“If the premier chooses to keep ignoring this health crisis, my hope is that Dr. Mustafa Hirji (Niagara’s acting medical officer of health) and the local public health unit, working alongside the District School Board of Niagara, will take the necessary steps to keep Niagara safe.”
Mon., April 11, 2022
Niagara’s elementary school teachers are increasingly at the head of half-empty classrooms as students are off sick with COVID-19, says the labour groups representing them.
Jennifer McArthur, president of the Ontario English Catholic Teachers’ Association Niagara elementary division, said teachers are reporting “rising numbers of student absences as a result of COVID-19, in some cases totalling a quarter to half of the class.”
“It’s not just students who are absent, teachers are also getting COVID,” she said. “When teachers and education workers have to stay home to isolate, that leaves their colleagues scrambling to cover classes or managing two classes that have been put together due to the shortage of occasional teachers. Last week alone, there were schools with absence rates of more than 20 per cent.”
Elementary Teachers Federation of Ontario Niagara local president Brian Barker said the union expected a “small uptick of cases once the safety measures were lifted.”
“But the reported number of 100,000 cases a day in the province of Ontario is extremely concerning,” he said.
“It’s unfortunate that the government removed the tracking and reporting of COVID cases in schools, so it is hard to nail down the data, but there have definitely been more teacher absences that have been left unfilled due to sickness since the mandates were lifted,” he said in an email.
“If I had to infer why that was the case, I would surmise that it’s due to the introduction of the new BA.2 variant and the lifting of the safety precautions that protected teachers, children and education workers.”
Monday, École élémentaire LaMarsh in Niagara Falls reported 31.2 per cent of staff and students were absent — enough to require the school to inform Niagara Region Public Health. Absences of more than 20 per cent were reported at 15 Niagara school facilities, including Prince Philip Public School in St. Catharines where 29.1 per cent of staff and students were absent.
As absentee rates increased across Ontario, the Catholic teachers’ association issued a statement last week, calling on the provincial government to immediately reinstate a mask mandate in Ontario’s schools.
In an email, McArthur said the teachers she represents primarily want to be in schools and working in person with their students.
“They know that students enjoy the many benefits of in-person learning. Unfortunately, we are now witnessing the consequences of the (Premier Doug) Ford government’s decision to lift masking mandates in schools following the March break and teachers are calling and emailing to inform us of what is happening,” she said.
McArthur blamed increasing infections on the provincial government’s decision to lift mask requirements and other protections for schools.
“None of this was inevitable. At every turn, the Ford government has made short-sighted, politically motivated decisions that threaten health and safety, and leave parents, students, educators and public health units in the dark about the presence of COVID-19 in our schools and communities,” she said.
“It has been painful for teachers to watch students suffer through repeated in-class learning disruptions, negatively impacting their mental health and academic well-being. They want to be healthy and at work, teaching to a full class of healthy and engaged students.
Barker agreed, adding, “Ford needs to address this with immediacy; if not, it will only cause further disruption to in-person learning, and have negative impacts on the health and safety of education workers, students and their families.
“If the premier chooses to keep ignoring this health crisis, my hope is that Dr. Mustafa Hirji (Niagara’s acting medical officer of health) and the local public health unit, working alongside the District School Board of Niagara, will take the necessary steps to keep Niagara safe.”
Allan Benner is a St. Catharines-based reporter with the Standard. Reach him via email: allan.benner@niagaradailies.com
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