Thread by @spaiglass

School boards are noticing @imgrund's handy back-to-school policy comparison chart 👇 because people are speaking up 🗣️‼️

This weekend, e-mail your school trustees 📧demanding safe schools (template/contacts below). Your voice matters.

#SafeSeptemberON #onted #Masks4Canada
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https://twitter.com/imgrund/status/1294801012130295809

✉️ Find your trustee's email address:
TDSB: tdsb.on.ca/Leadership/Tru…
Peel: peelschools.org…/meetyourtr…/Pages/default.aspx
Durham: ddsb.ca/en/about-ddsb/……
York: yrdsb.ca/Trustees/Pages…
York Catholic: ycdsb.ca/trustees/
Halton: hdsb.ca/our-board/Page… /2

✏️Here's a template for a letter (e.g. for Durham):

Dear [school trustee] ,
Thank you for all the hard work school boards are putting in over the summer for this exceptional year. However, our school protocols are still missing key pieces to keep our children & teachers safe. /3

Here are my requests:
1) Inform teachers when students get sick: Durham school board's current policy does not require staff to be informed if a student tests positive. This is highly unsafe and counter to Health Canada's extensive effort to promote contact tracing.
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Teachers cannot avoid being in close contact with young children day after day. This increases their chance of getting infected. Notifying teachers will keep them and their families safe.
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2) Mandate masks for JK - Grade 3: Masks will protect students and teachers indoors in poorly-ventilated, crowded classrooms day after day. Young children (JK - Grade 3) are not adept at distancing, making this especially important in crowded classrooms (no 2m distancing)
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American Acad of Pediatrics recommends masks for children over 2yr. Many cities, such as Toronto, mandate masks for children over age 2 in indoor spaces. Masks allow for medical/behavioural exemptions as studies show 80% masking is enough. Pls mandate masks for all students.
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3) Create a plan for suspected cases: TDSB and TCDSB requires a suspected case to be tested, and a negative test for school return. TDSB and TCDSB are working with Toronto Public Health to pilot saliva-based tests, which are faster, cheaper than nasal swabs, and non-invasive. /8

Tests like this will reduce chance of outbreaks in our schools. Please make these tests available for Durham school board as well.
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Students, educators and families of Durham school board deserve maximal safety during COVID-19. We cannot afford to have our schools closed due to outbreaks. I urge you to make these changes for safer schools.

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Yours sincerely,
[Your name]
[Mailing address, at least postal code, to show you are constituent]

/END