MARCH BREAK POSTPONED
Move based on medical advice, minister says
Ontario is postponing March break until the week of April 12 in an effort to reduce the spread of COVID-19, a move decried by critics who argued the government should instead be focusing on making schools safer.
Education Minister Stephen Lecce said postponing the break — a decision based on the advice of the province’s top doctor — is an important way schools can help limit community transmission.
“I recognize this is one more change in a year that has been challenging for so many students and our education staff,” Lecce said Thursday. “But it is one made on the best advice of public health officials to keep them safe and to keep our schools open in this province.”
The minister said people should avoid travelling over the next several weeks and noted that limiting transmission is especially important given that more contagious variants of the virus are circulating in the province.
The province’s largest teachers’ union, the association representing public school boards and the Opposition New Democrats had all asked for the March break to go ahead as planned, saying families, students and teachers needed it.
Four teachers’ unions decried the postponement in a joint statement Thursday and called on the government to reverse the move.
“The government’s decision to postpone March break does not take into consideration the mental health and well-being of those involved,” the statement said.
The group said going ahead with the plan despite opposition from unions and stakeholders shows a disregard for front-line workers.
The group also questioned why the Progressive Conservative government is starting to lift restrictions on businesses if there are concerns about travel and gatherings during March break.
A union representing other education workers also criticized the move, saying Lecce has failed to implement other pandemic safety measures like mandatory screening in schools and universal paid sick leave.
“The minister can delay March break and claim he’s doing it in the interest of public health. But if he’s not carrying out the proposals above during the COVID-19 pandemic, he’s putting students, workers and families at risk,” union president Laura Walton said in a statement.
Meanwhile, the Ontario Public School Boards’ Association said school communities are grateful to have at least a break coming, even if it isn’t at the preferred time.
“We do know that it is important to be following the public health recommendations and if this is going to help us get to the end of the pandemic sooner then this is what we’ll do,” Cathy Abraham, the association’s president, said Thursday.
“We do appreciate getting a break at all, because it has been a challenge for some.”
All students began the new year learning remotely as part of a provincial lockdown.