Ontario must rebuild trust

What Ontario’s parents, students and teachers all need right now is confidence — confidence that when schools reopen early next month the risks from COVID-19 are as low as reasonably possible.

Instead, they’re getting a confusing welter of claims and counterclaims, along with a dollop of dire warnings about dangers from a much-feared “second wave” of the pandemic.

Things got, if anything, even worse on Thursday. The Conservative government, through Education Minister Stephen Lecce, announced more money to pay for measures designed to minimize the risks of reopening.

In addition to more than $300 million set aside earlier to pay for more nurses, teachers, custodians, PPE and such, there will be $50 million to improve ventilation in schools to lessen the spread of the virus, and $18 million to support so-called synchronous online learning (a.k.a. Zoom classes).

In addition, the province will “unlock” almost $500 million in reserve funding held by school boards and allow them to use it for such measures as hiring more teachers and increasing physical distancing.

It sounds like a lot, but it’s coming awfully late (is September coming as a surprise this year?) And it falls far short of what some others, notably teachers’ unions, claim is necessary.

In fact, even as Lecce was rolling out more money, four unions claimed the province’s plan violates its own health and safety legislation. And they say the government should be spending three times as much as it has committed so far if it truly wants a safe reopening.

All this is bound to undermine confidence, not bolster it. And whatever the merits of the conflicting claims, that’s a problem in itself. If a critical mass of parents and teachers don’t trust the plan to reopen schools, many students won’t show up and many educators will balk at returning to their classes.

This would be a giant political problem for the government, but that’s the least of it. If schools can’t successfully reopen, it will be a major blow to efforts at getting society as a whole back to something like normality. Many parents won’t be able to return to work, and a generation of young people will suffer.

The government claims the unions are being obstructionist, and are exaggerating the risks that will come with its plan. We can’t judge the conflicting claims, but we can offer a couple of observations.

First, no reopening plan will be risk-free. Everyone going back to work, or resuming daily activities, is assuming a greater degree of risk than during the lockdown. The issue is whether the risk is acceptable, given the negative consequences of keeping schools closed.

Second, the man Ontarians have been told to trust for expert guidance through the pandemic is not sounding an alarm at this point. In fact, Dr. David Williams, the chief medical officer of health, is supporting the government’s plan.

Back in March, Ontario (like all other provinces) closed schools on Williams’ advice as the pandemic swept the land.

Five months later, after long, costly weeks of lockdown and restrictions, cases of COVID-19 are far lower. Williams said his advice, drawn from the province’s “tables” of medical experts, is that it’s safe to reopen schools as planned on Sept. 8.

He said he’s taking into account not just physical distancing measures in Ontario’s plan, but other measures as well, including masks for older students, hand hygiene, testing, cohorting and so on. “If there was concern now,” he said, “I would not be recommending the schools being open.”

This has to count for something. Williams and the experts he relies on don’t have a dog in any fight between the government and the unions. They may be proven wrong eventually, but that’s their best independent estimate.

Finally, one move Lecce could take that might calm nerves is to delay or stagger the opening the schools.

British Columbia has taken this approach. It’s giving teachers two extra days, until Sept. 10, to prepare classrooms for the arrival of students and discuss health guidelines. The teachers’ union there calls it a “reasonable” approach.

On Thursday, Lecce said he’ll support any idea to “derisk” the situation. He should delay or stagger the reopening, and work harder at building the confidence that is so sorely needed.

Criticisms that the Ontario government should have freed up this money a month or two ago are valid, but there will never be a no-risk option to reopening schools