for ontario parents and kids, more uncertainty about school year

by: jacquie millerthe province has announced a road map for reopening everything from golf courses to restaurants and cinemas, but there’s still no news on whether students will go back to school before the end of june.mixed messages emerged thursday from various officials, with no clear answers for ontario’s 1.5 million students who chose in-person classes this year.all elementary and secondary students have been learning remotely at home since april 19.both education minister stephen lecce and chief medical officer of health dr. david williams have repeatedly said that keeping school open is a top priority for the government.but the idea that schools should be the last to close and the first to reopen wasn’t part of the message thursday from either premier doug ford or the province’s three-part reopening road map.ford said he’s waiting for a consensus among doctors and science advisers on the contentious issue.he also expressed alarm at the modelling data released earlier thursday by the province’s covid-19 science advisory table, which said reopening schools on june 2 could increase virus case counts by between six and 11 per cent.“are you writing off the school  year?” a journalist asked ford at a news conference, pointing out that there is unlikely to be a consensus among scientific experts.“because hundreds of thousands of parents need to know whether their kids are going back or not … is it time to just say, ‘im going to make a a choice because i’m the government?’ ”“i feel it,” ford replied. “there’s tons of kids on my street. they’ll come up to me and say, ‘oh, you know, when can we go back to school?’ and so on and so forth, but the news i just received … is very concerning, the 11 per cent increase. right now, can we afford the 11 per cent?”at a news conference earlier thursday, covid-19 science table co-chair adalsteinn brown raised the possibility of regional school reopenings.an increased covid-19 case count of six to 11 per cent  “may be manageable, at least in some regions,” brown said. 

 brown was joined by williams, who said he would like ontario schools to reopen to in-person classes “by june.” but williams added that consultations were still going on with the ministry of education and local public health officials.williams said he has been “pushing for schools to reopen now for at least three to four weeks, to get ready for it.”the provincial reopening road map released thursday, meanwhile, said that remote learning at home will continue “at this time” and that data “will be assessed on an ongoing basis.”cheo, several other children’s hospitals, the canadian paediatric society and other groups working with children released an open letter thursday calling for the government to reopen schools immediately with appropriate safety measures in place.ontario is witnessing a mental health crisis among children, said the letter, and in-person school is essential. “the benefits of a few weeks in classroom cannot be overstated,” said the letter, which said giving children the chance to see classmates and “participate in normal routines” would help them transition into summer and the next school year.the ceo of cheo, alex munter, applauded the province’s decision to give priority to allowing outdoor activities, but said the province appears to have abandoned the goal of reopening schools first.“bad news: the goal seems to be to keep schools closed so it’s possible to open stores, restaurants and other venues,” he tweeted.if some schools in the province are allowed to reopen in june, it’s anyone’s guess whether that would include ottawa.but covid-19 cases in the city have been trending downward since the third-wave peak in mid-april, and ottawa is no longer one of the province’s hot spots.in addition, ottawa medical officer of health dr. vera etches has been a strong proponent of the importance of in-person learning and has requested the province take a regional approach to reopening schools.schools remained open in october, during another covid-19 peak in ottawa, when cases were higher than they are now.other factors come into play now, though, including the rollout of vaccinations and the emergence of more contagious virus variants that dominate covid-19 cases in the province.about a third of ontario teachers are now vaccinated, williams said at the briefing thursday.williams also suggested that having schools open might also help in the vaccination campaign for teens.youths aged 12 to 17 are eligible to book a vaccine starting may 31.education unions have urged the government to improve safety measures at schools, including more improvements to ventilation, smaller classes and  widespread rapid covid-19 testing.on thursday, premier ford repeated a statement he made earlier that education unions  threatened a court injunction if schools reopened.ford’s office said the statement was made by “labour partners” at a meeting. officials at ontario’s five major education unions, contacted by this newspaper, all said they had not threatened a court  injunction.jmiller@postmedia.comtwitter.com/jacquieamiller