Public schools to stay closed two weeks after break
All of Ontario’s public schools will close for two weeks after March break to help in the fight against the spread of the novel coronavirus.
Government officials said they realize the impact of the threeweek school closure from March 14 to April 5 will have on families and the community but said it’s necessary to keep people safe. The closures affect two million students at elementary and secondary schools.
Decisive action is needed to contain the spread of COVID -19, the illness caused by the coronavirus, said a statement from Premier Doug Ford, Education Minister Stephen Lecce and Health Minister Christine Elliott.
The decision was made based on advice from Dr. David Williams, Ontario’s chief medical officer of health. Williams said he was concerned both with the likelihood of many children travelling over March break, which begins March 16, and the fact that two of the new COVID-19 cases Ontario announced Thursday were in people under the age of 18. One is a baby.
“That substantiated my concerns that children can have it,” he said. “While I don’t believe there’s much illness, it does give the potential of bringing back infection and introducing it into various settings, including schools and daycares.”
Earlier Thursday, Premier Doug Ford urged families to travel outside of Canada during March break and enjoy themselves. That was contradicted by federal Health Minister Patty Hajdu, who said Canadians looking at whether to travel for March break should consider staying home.
Countries and local jurisdictions around the world that are COVID-19 hot spots have closed schools.
In Canada, local and provincial governments can close schools if they fear transmission of the illness is becoming widespread in their area, said Canada’s chief public health officer, Dr. Theresa Tam.
“The measures have to be balanced against what is going on on the ground, and you can’t sort of blanket a whole geographic area without really paying attention to the details on the ground,” Tam said.
Many questions remain, such as whether Ontario schools will be able to implement e-learning during the closures and whether the school year will be extended. Lecce said student learning will continue, and details will be provided later.
Charles Pascal, a professor at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, said creative and dedicated teachers can develop at-home learning projects for students.
However, any online learning has to take into account that some students don’t have computers, he posted on Twitter. The decision means thousands of parents are now doubly scrambling for childcare: not only were March break plans possibly scrambled but two more weeks without school were suddenly tacked on.
“We’re kind of in shock,” said Malaka Hendela, co-chair of the Ottawa-Carleton Assembly of School Councils. “I have no idea what the next couple of weeks are going to look like for me.”
She said her son’s camp at Carleton University was cancelled at the last minute and now there are two more weeks to find care for an eight-year-old, weeks when group programming will likely not be offered. She said, however, she has some flexibility to work at home in her public-sector job.
She and other parents are also wondering whether the suddenly lost two weeks of instruction time, on top of days lost to teacher strikes, represent a kind of “tipping point” for the academic year.
Her co-chair, Christine Moulaison, has four children in the elementary system, aged five to 11. She has the good fortune of being a stay-at-home mom and her husband has been encouraged by his employer to work remotely during the pandemic.
“It’s going to create a difficulty for those homes with two working parents, as well as those homes with a single working parent.”
The lack of city-organized activities for children during the last two weeks, such as day camps, make it that much tougher for parents, she added.
“I think it’s going to be more complicated,” she predicted. “It’s going to be a very different patchwork of care.”
She has even cancelled one of her children’s birthday parties at a facility this weekend to not put other parents in the “awkward” position of deciding to take part in a group function right now.
Moulaison has also has stocked up on food and craft supplies, plans some play-dates, and is willing to take in other children for parents in a jam.
The association representing Ontario’s public school boards said the COVID-19 pandemic is “an unprecedented and rapidly evolving event that requires an unprecedented response.”
School boards will take direction from public health authorities and work with the Ministry of Education
to minimize the impact on students, the association said in a statement.
Both Ontario NDP Leader Andrea Horwath and Liberal Leader Steven Del Duca said they supported the school closures.
However, Horwath said that parents “need to be assured that they can stay home with their kids, and that they will not lose a paycheque and cannot be fired for doing that.”
Del Duca said the government should provide support for families whose kids rely on school breakfast and lunch programs. “Kids should not fall through the cracks,” he said on Twitter.
The Public Health Agency of Canada says it’s unknown what role children play in the community spread of COVID -19.
The agency outlined in a recent document what factors should be considered in school closures, considering they come at a high economic and social cost.
“School closures can reduce virus transmission, but the timing and duration of the closure is critical (before the peak of the epidemic), and later closures could be ineffective and be socially disruptive.”
Officials should also consider that students may simply congregate elsewhere in less-controlled environments, shifting the transmission of the virus to the community, said the document.
School closures of less than two weeks have minimal impact on the spread of the virus in communities, said the document on how to mitigate the spread of COVID-19.
Others noted the importance of helping children with the emotional impact of school closures and fear of COVID-19.
Children will have “big feelings and they will need us to remain calm and supportive,” one teacher said on Twitter. “Watch your words in their presence and if needed, take a break to breathe for yourself.”
School closures can reduce virus transmission, but the timing and duration of the closure is critical, and later closures could be ineffective ...