Thread by @ESL_fairy

Dr. Moore called out Waterloo region in his presser today, noting that we still cannot keep our cases down thanks to the Delta variant’s increased transmissibility and severity.

Yes, deaths in children are rare. But as we see a spike in pediatric cases (which we will as we enter this fourth wave with Delta at the helm), we will inevitably see more children permanently disabled by long COVID, multisystem inflammatory syndrome, and other complications.

Even in “healthy children” without any preexisting conditions, we will see complications. Achieving natural herd immunity by “normalizing COVID in schools” and letting this virus run its course in a vulnerable unvaccinated population is simply not an option for me as a parent.

We were promised enhanced safety measures and had to wait until AUGUST for this “enhanced plan” (when balanced calendar schools in Peel were already open and many school boards had already asked parents for a commitment for online or in person learning).

What we received was a weakening of an already bargain basement back to school plan that prioritizes hand hygiene and respiratory etiquette as the most, along with more hygiene theatre of rags and disinfectant.

We were given a plan that asks for “as much distancing as possible” (which is 30 cm in some classrooms). A plan that doesn’t give our kindergarten students without accommodation needs any credit - even though many boards have proven they are fully capable of wearing masks.

I’m glad that some attention is finally being paid to aerosols, including the provision of HEPA filters for schools with no mechanical ventilation. I am disappointed that masks will not be worn by ALL in elementary school, since under 12s cannot be vaccinated.

I refuse to accept a sub-par back to school plan simply because it’s “better than nothing” or “better than Alberta’s plan”. Should our new license plate slogan as a province be “Ontario… at least we’re not Alberta”?

Where is the outbreak management plan? Under what circumstances will a cohort be sent home? What is the threshold for school closures? What is the threshold for pivoting to online learning? When does an education worker need to self-isolate?

How will we keep contacts to a minimum and still meet student needs and collective agreement requirements for planning time? What does the screening tool look like? Why are schools not allowed to access vaccination information about staff or students?

Why (other than Doug Ford’s daughter publicly proclaiming that vaccines are evil) are we avoiding mandating a vaccine for school staff and eligible students as we do for MMR, diphtheria, tetanus, polio, measles, pertussis, and varicella?

Why is Dr. Moore suddenly backpedalling on restrictions for unvaccinated students, instead pandering to the anti-vax movement by promising that unvaccinated students will face no limitations on their activities?

How can we allow full contact sports between kids from different cohorts indoors with no masks and wind instruments/singing indoors without masks… but still be restricting in-class collaborative groupings for learning?

Why can kids sit on a crowded full-capacity bus (3 to a seat) and in crowded cafeterias with masks off to eat?

Why did this government refuse to reinstate PAID sick/family care days for parents to stay home with their ill children instead of sending them to school sick?

Why are we so stubbornly wanting to return to “normal” in schools (such as large school assemblies with kids packed into airless gyms like sardines) when what we should be doing is tightening restrictions until young children can be vaccinated?

Why are we pandering to a small but vocal group of “freedom fighters”? Why are we consistently cherry picking the cheapest recommendations from CHEO and Sick Kids (including wiping down high touch surfaces for more hygiene theatre instead of investing in smaller class sizes)?

While I agree that in-person schooling is the best place for most children to be learning for a variety of reasons, we need to stop pretending that simply placing children in classrooms will magically fix all of the mental health concerns of this pandemic.

Eating disorders, self-harm, addiction, developmental trauma, mood disorders, anxiety, suicidal ideation and grief/loss associated with the pandemic will not suddenly disappear simply because a child sits in a desk in a classroom.

Many children will still be going home to poverty, abuse, food and housing insecurity, and coping with the loss of loved ones. Front line supports for students, including a full-time child and youth worker at EVERY school needs to be a priority.

We also need real investment in community mental health supports. Children are literally dying as they wait for support, or languishng on wait lists for years before receiving support. It is criminal that we are letting kids suffer like this.

Ford does not understand what it is like to support children with complex mental health needs who are unable to access mental health services. He cannot possibly understand. Teachers are NOT mental health service providers.

He can give us a provincial website with some good articles, or even a consultant at a board office to share videos, articles, and ideas for supporting student mental health, but teachers will NEVER be able to be what kids in crisis truly need, nor should we be expected to be.

Educators are not therapists. Teachers are not mental health crisis workers. Many of us have been just barely holding on in this pandemic, and the expectation will continue to be for us to do more with less, to give more of ourselves to protect children from Ford’s cuts.

I’ve helped an anxious and depressed little girl to stop slicing her own wrists. I’ve placed my own body between a traumatized child and the brick wall that he was slamming his bloodied head against. I’ve stopped a child from hanging himself using cords in a classroom.

I’ve patiently waited out a child who held scissors to my throat and threatened to slice me open like the people they saw sliced open in a refugee camp. I’ve listened as multiple children have disclosed both physical and sexual abuse.

I’ve sourced and delivered food, hygeine items, school supplies, and clothing for more children than I can count. I have never been trained to be a social worker, but somehow I have ended up being “the person” for many kids in my care… and I know that I am not what they need.

I am there. I am a caring adult. I try my best. I am “better than nothing”... but I am definitely not enough. Similarly, this government’s plan to keep the Delta wave in check in schools is “better than nothing”... but it is simply not enough. Not even close. #OntEd

If, like me, you are a concerned parent or education worker (or both), please write to your local MPP and…

Minister Lecce [e-mail]

Deputy Minister Naylor [e-mail]

Assistant Oosterhoff [e-mail]

#OntEd