A choice, NOT A mandate
As masking rules end, students and teachers decide their comfort level with the right to bare faces
Toronto high school student Stephanie De Castro has no intention of dropping mask use at school — at least not in the near future.
But the 16-year-old suspects plenty of students will do just that, eager to go maskless in class for the first time since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
On Wednesday, the province announced an end to mandatory masking in schools and most indoor public spaces — exceptions include public transit, nursing homes and retirement homes — starting in about two weeks, and immediate changes to isolation guidelines for close contacts of those with COVID.
Changes to masking rules come as cases decline and vaccination rates rise — but vaccine uptake remains low among young children, which has some questioning why the province is lifting COVID-19 restrictions in schools beginning March 21. In addition to not being required to wear a mask, students will no longer need to submit daily COVID screening passports, stay in their cohort or physically distance.
“I’m scared of the mask mandate ending because I think it’s a bit too early,” said De Castro, a Grade 11 student at Senator O’Connor College School, located near the Don Valley Parkway and Lawrence Avenue East. “I don’t think after March break is the greatest time” to lift restrictions.
Ontario’s chief medical officer, Dr. Kieran Moore, said Wednesday that changes to masking rules follow “slow and steady” declines in admissions to hospitals and intensive care units, and he is “confident that we can do this safely.”
“It is now a choice, not a mandate,” he told reporters. “I hope that anyone who remains vulnerable will continue to wear their masks.”
Vaccination rates are high in the province, with 91 per cent of high school students having received two doses. But among those aged five to 11, 55 per cent have got a first dose and about half of those have got both shots.
In a memo sent Wednesday to the directors of education, the Ministry of Education said it “recognizes that these changes are significant” and that “some students and families may find this transition challenging.” It notes “school boards may receive requests for a shortterm remote learning option and are asked to consider accommodating these requests within current teaching capacity in virtual learning.”
The government will continue to provide free masks and personal protective equipment for staff and students, and will make 3.6 million rapid antigen tests available to school boards on a bi-weekly basis.
Toronto city council voted Wednesday afternoon to have the city’s own masking bylaw expire March 21, in concert with provincial mandates.
Dr. Eileen de Villa, Toronto’s medical officer of health, who backed the move, says her best advice is still to wear a mask, especially in crowded, indoor settings. “COVID is not over,” she said. “Hence it is really important that we continue to use the tools at our disposal.”
De Castro is double-vaccinated but will keep wearing a mask at school because she worries about contracting COVID and transmitting it to her grandmother and sixyear-old brother, who hasn’t yet received his second jab. If case counts continue to drop, “I’ll be more than happy to take it off,” because she said mask-wearing muffles voices and causes skin problems, such as rashes and acne.
The teen, who’s a student trustee at the Toronto Catholic District School Board, says students are evenly split on mask wearing. And some are concerned they may feel peer pressure to either remove, or wear, a mask.
“I’m not really worried about (peer pressure) because I will be prioritizing myself and my family’s safety,” she said.
The TCDSB says it will follow the province’s direction. The Toronto District School Board is reviewing its policies to determine how changes announced by the province will be implemented and will discuss the issue at a special meeting Thursday.
The Children’s Health Coalition — a group of leading children’s health organizations — says “for now, we encourage everyone to continue masking in schools.” It would have preferred the province wait a couple of weeks after the March break to assess the impact of Ontario’s reopening before deciding.
“Masks remain an important layer of protection as the pandemic continues and may be needed in communities with low vaccination rates and where there is a surge in cases,” according to a statement released by the group, which includes CHEO, McMaster Children’s Hospital and Sick Kids. “Masks also protect those most vulnerable, including high-risk, immunocompromised and fragile children.”
Dr. Ronald Cohn, president and CEO of Sick Kids, says we “should be abundantly cautious in our approach to lifting in-school public health measures.”
“As a pediatrician, I encourage families who are more comfortable wearing masks to continue to do so past the lifting of the mask mandates,” he said. “We must all remember that the COVID-19 pandemic is not over and show respect and support for those who continue to practise masking and other safety measures.”
Teachers unions also urged caution, and questioned the province’s motivation.
“It appears that a fast-approaching June election is influencing politicians’ decisions to lift COVID-19 safety measures,” says Karen Brown, president of the Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario, which represents 83,000 members, including public elementary teachers, occasional teachers and designated early childhood educators. “Lifting the mask mandate too soon may result in further disruption to in-person learning and negative impacts on the health and safety of ETFO members, students, and their families.”
Barb Dobrowolski, president of the Ontario English Catholic Teachers’ Association, said members worry that dropping mask requirements in schools “is ill-timed, and seemingly motivated by politics, rather than science.”
“For safe, open schools, we must proceed cautiously,” said Dobrowolski of OECTA, which represents 45,000 Catholic elementary and secondary teachers. “Schools are the largest daily gathering in Ontario, with more than two million students, educators, and staff congregating in buildings — many with more than 30 students in a classroom — for seven hours a day.”