Thread by @TorontoStar

A teacher tweeted in Sept. 2020 a photo of his packed classroom. "I managed to squeeze 34 desks. There's no distancing." It went viral, with calls for action to Ontario.

Now, the Star has reviewed internal emails to show how Ontario's officials reacted: torstar.co/3OHi50EDd7o

“I managed to squeeze in 34 desks. There’s no distancing,” Griffith tweeted. “But (Premier Doug Ford and Education Minister Stephen Lecce) say we have the ‘best plan in the country’ and the ‘lowest class sizes’. Uh huh.” @griffydeck tweeted.

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Within hours, the tweet came to the attention of deputy education minister Nancy Naylor’s office. Internal emails obtained by the Star show that Naylor’s executive assistant asked staff to contact the director of education to look into the claims.

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What happened next? Critics say the emails show that, when facing public blowback, officials worked behind the scenes to minimize bad press.

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Griffith said ministry officials “were trying to implement damage control.”

There was no official response from the province on his tweet, but education minister’s spokesperson defends province’s COVID-19 safety measures.

torstar.co/3OHi50EDd7o