Back plans with cash
Reopening schools in September so that children can attend all day, every day, in a way that’s safe for everyone is going to be expensive. This much we know.
We also know that all-day, in-class learning is the ambition of Ontario Premier Doug Ford and Education Minister Stephen Lecce and some of the province’s school boards. It is also the desperate need of millions of Ontario parents and their school-age children.
Finally, we know that Ford and Lecce have promised to unveil their return-to-school plan this week, six weeks before school is to resume on Sept. 8.
Just over a month ago, on June 19, they proposed three potential options: online only, full-time in-school with smaller classes and strict hygiene protocols, or a mix of the two, also known as the hybrid model. Any decision would rely on the advice of local medical officers of health.
For the past month, the hybrid model has been looking like the inevitable option, mainly because no price tag has been put on all-day, in-class learning and there’s been no commitment from the government to foot the bill, regardless of cost.
Now we’re starting to get a better idea of how much it will take to reopen schools. All signs are the bill will indeed be big, but it’s important that the government make it clear that it’s prepared to find the money. There’s no point in producing a back-to-school plan that isn’t backed with sufficient cash to make it work.
Getting kids back into school is perhaps the single most important thing that must be done if we’re going to get back to something close to normal this fall. It’s vital for both the kids and for their parents, especially working women who are already losing ground in the workforce because of the pandemic.
As the Star’s Kristin Rushowy reports, both the Ontario Liberal Party and the Canadian Union of Public Employees have released estimates of what it will cost to hire more teachers, teaching assistants and custodians; to buy more PPEs and cleaning supplies; and to secure more classroom space.
The Liberals’ list includes $1.3 billion for 15,000 elementary teachers to reduce class sizes to 15 and $170 million for secondary teachers. They say the government should plan on spending another $200 million for 14,000 new classrooms in locations like community centres and arenas, plus $500 million for 10,000 caretakers and $120 million for cleaning supplies and equipment. The total cost, they say, will be a daunting $3.2 billion. Meanwhile, CUPE, which represents 55,000 school support staff, estimates it will cost about $1.49 per student per day, or nearly $590 million, just to pay for basics like hand sanitizer, personal protective equipment, extra custodians and opening up unused rooms in schools to accommodate smaller classes.
The union recommends Ontario increase education spending a minimum of 2.1 per cent to pay for COVID-19-related expenses. And that doesn’t include additional teachers.
Lecce has said that after the province reveals its preferred model this week, school boards will have until Aug. 4 to submit their plans. That’s only a week away.
We don’t know if the cost estimates from the Liberals and CUPE will turn out to be accurate. So much is unknown that it’s hard to say how big the bill will be.
But whatever the exact amount, it will be money well spent. As a society, we have to figure out a way to make the return to school both successful and safe.
When the province unveils its back-to-school plan this week, it should also provide its own estimate of the cost — and assure Ontarians that it will find the money. Students, parents and educators deserve no less.
Getting kids back to school is important if we’re going to get back to something close to normal this fall