Tag Archives: Fix Our Schools

Ontario Liberals Estimate $3.2-B Additional Funding Needed for Safe Return to School

July 29, 2020

On Monday, the Liberal party of Ontario turned up the pressure on Doug Ford and Stephen Lecce to come to Ontarians with a concrete and costed plan for a safe return to school. Liberal Leader Steven Del Duca said, “since the government hasn’t unveiled a plan for the fall, I did.”

In the July 27, 2020 Toronto Star article entitled, “Opening Ontario schools safely amid COVID would require up to $3.2-billion in funding for staff, cleaning supplies say Liberals, staff union“, Del Duca said “students and their parents have been waiting for far too long to hear what will happen in September. Living with this uncertainty has caused unnecessary anxiety … Getting our students back to school safely is what kids critically need … and it’s the only way their moms and dads can have peace of mind to return to work.”

The Ontario Liberals released their “Students in schools action plan”, calling on Ford and Lecce to allocate $3.2-billion of additional funding to cover anticipated expenses such as:

  • 17,000 additional teachers to reduce class sizes
  • 10,000 caretakers to keep schools clean and sanitized
  • 14,000 new classrooms in community centres, campuses, arenas, etc.
  • Sufficient cleaning/hygiene supplies and equipment
  • School transportation

Sadly, Ford and Lecce have continued to boast about the inadequate $1.4-B/year funding for school renewal and repairs. Shockingly, they have been urging school boards to tap into that funding to cover costs such as hand-sanitizing centres, and improving building ventilation. However, the $1.4-B/year of school renewal and repair funding has not even allowed Ontario’s school boards to stem the tide on a constantly increasing list of repairs in Ontario’s schools. The repair backlog in Ontario’s schools has ballooned from $15-billion to $16.3-billion over the years when annual funding has been $1.4-B/year – clearly proving that this funding is insufficient – even without the needs demanded by a global pandemic.

The Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) also revealed cost estimates for a safe return to school in September based on their experience in other sectors that have continued working during the pandemic. Laura Walton, who heads CUPE’s school bargaining unit, said there needs to be a 2.1% increase in education spending for the coming year. CUPE’s estimate of an additional $1.49 per student per day (in sharp contrast to Doug Ford’s current proposal of an additional $0.07 per student per day) would total $590-million to pay for necessary items such as:

  • touch-free hand sanitizers in every classroom
  • sanitizer refills
  • PPE
  • Plexiglas for school offices and libraries
  • Opening up unused rooms in schools to accommodate smaller classes
  • Bringing in extra education assistants
  • Hiring one new custodian in each of the province’s 4,800 schools.

CUPE’s estimate of costs did not include the costs of hiring additional teachers to ensure smaller class sizes.

It is clear that there is a financial cost to our students, teachers, and education workers returning safely to schools this fall. As the Toronto Star Editorial Board shared on July 27, 2020 in their piece entitled, “Ontario’s back-to-school plan must come with cash“, “whatever the exact amount, it will be money well spent. As a society, we have to figure out a way to make the return to school both successful and safe. When the province unveils its back-to-school plan this week, it should also provide its own estimate of the cost — and assure Ontarians that it will find the money. Students, parents and educators deserve no less.“

Who is Responsible for Funding Safe, Healthy Return to School for Ontario’s Children?

July 27, 2020

The schools that most Ontario children attend depend entirely on funding from the provincial government. However, the children of Ontario’s First Nations schools are funded at the whim of the federal government. In 2014, the Auditor General called for Canada to “immediately develop and implement a comprehensive strategy and action plan, with targets, to close the education gap.” This plan has not happened. Providing equal education to Ontario’s First Nations requires a commitment to adequate, stable funding.

Matawa First Nations Management, a council representing nine communities between the north shore of Lake Superior and James Bay (five of which are only accessible by air & winter road), has not received adequate funding to address a safe, healthy back-to-school this fall. 

These remote communities estimate they need $25-M in supplemental funding for all their educational facilities for this fall. These costs are in addition to the funding for Grandview Lodge, a dormitory-style school that will not only allow students to stay in the north, but will also allow their parents to stay for extended visits.

In Ontario’s First Nations communities, our federal government is obliged to fully fund appropriately-equipped schools and prepare all schools for this fall’s challenges. Prime Minister Trudeau… over to you.

Getting Children Back to School Has to Be Our Top Priority

July 23, 2020

As per the July 18, 2020 article in School Magazine entitled, “Re-opening schools in September – many loaded questions”, “in just over a month, roughly 2 million Ontario students may get ready to return to school after 6 months away from the classroom. But, in the light of COVID-19, it’s not at all clear how a safe return will work. There are a lot of factors in play, but the overriding one is money.” 

In a July 20, 2020 opinion piece in the Globe & Mail entitled, “Getting children back to school has to be our top priority“, André Picard states, “six months into the pandemic and six weeks shy of the traditional post-Labour Day return to school, the question we need to ask is not, “Should kids return to school?” The question we need to ask and answer is: How can we ensure that children return to school as safely as possible?“. Picard urges governments and school boards to stop dithering and propose clear reopening plans so that these plans can be debated, discussed and tweaked. Wisely, he concludes that “getting children back in the classroom, smartly and safely, has to be the number one priority of politicians, public-health officials, educators and parents alike. Bars, restaurants, hair salons, golf clubs and the like should all take a back seat to ensuring that children get an education – and a childhood – pandemic or not.”

Fix Our Schools agrees that provincial funding and leadership is key to ensuring children can return to school in September as safely as possible. Since June 1, Fix Our Schools has been calling on the Ford government to prioritize publicly funded schools and education and commit the funding required for a safe return to school. We urge you to assist in building the political pressure needed to make this happen.

Please mark July 29th on your calendar to visit your local MPP’s office at noon and demand a safe and fully funded return to school for Ontario’s students. Ontario Families for Public Education and the Ontario Parents Action Network are organizing this event and ask that you please register here.

When you connect with your local MPP, be sure to remind them that even prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, provincial funding for schools was grossly inadequate, allowing $16.3-billion of disrepair to accumulate in Ontario’s school buildings. Below, we’ve listed school disrepair details for PC ridings where local MPPs signed the Fix Our Schools Pledge during the last provincial election, committing personally to ensuring all Ontario schools are provided adequate funding to ensure they are safe, healthy, well-maintained and provide environments conducive to learning.

Now would be the perfect time to remind these MPPs of their commitment and to hold them to their election promise! And please be sure to point out that for a safe return to school amidst a global pandemic, school boards will need additional funding to ensure PPE availability, good ventilation in classrooms, reasonable classroom temperatures, proper hand hygiene and cleanliness, and sufficient caretaking staff, to name but a few details.

Andrea Khanjin: $36.2-M of disrepair in Barrie-Innisfil schools

Michael Parsa: $45.9-M of disrepair in Aurora-Oak Ridges-Richmond Hill schools

Bill Walker: $84.4-M of disrepair in Bruce-Grey-Owen Sound schools

Jane McKenna: $177.1-M of disrepair in Burlington schools

Vincent Ke: $191.5-M of disrepair in Don Valley North schools

Robin Martin: $181.7-M of disrepair in Eglinton-Lawrence schools

Kinga Surma: $281.6-M of disrepair in Etobicoke-Centre schools

Christine Hogarth: $151.8-M of disrepair in Etobicoke-Lakeshore schools

Daryl Kramp: $115.9-M of disrepair in Hastings-Lennox-Addington schools

Lisa Thompson: $113.8-M of disrepair in Huron-Bruce schools

Natalia Kusendova: $113-M of disrepair in Mississauga Centre schools

Rudy Cuzzetto: $237.9-M of disrepair in Mississauga Lakeshore schools

Deepak Anand: $92-M of disrepair in Mississauga Malton schools

Vic Fedeli: $96-M of disrepair in Nipissing schools

Christina Mitas: $212.2-M of disrepair in Scarborough-Centre schools

Lorne Coe: $102.1-M of disrepair in Whitby schools

Stan Cho: $125-M of disrepair in Willowdale schools

Roman Baber: $171.2-M of disrepair in York Centre schools

Ontario’s education funding formula has allowed this gobsmacking amount of disrepair to accumulate in school buildings where your children spend their days. The COVID-19 pandemic has laid bare how critically important it is for a society to have schools that are safe, healthy, well-maintained buildings that provide environments conducive to learning and working. The COVID-19 pandemic has also made it clear that, with sufficient political will, previously unimaginable public resources can be found and allocated.

The time is now to demand that our provincial government prioritize public education and schools by providing the funding that is actually needed to ensure this critical public infrastructure is safe, healthy, well-maintained and offers environments conducive to learning and working. 2-million Ontario children, their families, their teachers, and the education workers who support them all deserve nothing less.

Demand a Safe and Fully Funded Return to School

July 20, 2020

Fix Our Schools urges every citizen in this province to demand a safe and fully funded return to school in September! Ontario Families for Public Education and the Ontario Parents Action Network are calling upon every parent, teacher, education worker, and citizen to visit their local MPP’s office between noon – 1 pm on Wednesday, July 29 to demand a safe and fully funded return to school.

Even prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, our provincial government grossly underfunded schools to the extent that $16.3-billion of disrepair had been allowed to accumulate in Ontario’s school buildings. Please consider that in a COVID-19 reality, items such as PPE, good ventilation, reasonable classroom temperatures, resources to ensure proper hand hygiene and cleanliness, sufficient caretaking staff, water-bottle filling stations all become items that are even more important for students, teachers and education workers to be safe and healthy in their place of learning/work.

For those of you who live in a riding with a PC MPP, we urge you to make a special point of pressuring your local MPP to ensure a safe, fully funded return to school. Mark July 29th at noon on your calendar now to visit your local MPPs office. Below, you will find school disrepair details for many PC ridings and we  will provide details for additional PC ridings later this week:

Doug Ford: $178.4-M of disrepair in Etobicoke-North’s schools

Stephen Lecce: $30.9-M of disrepair in King-Vaughan schools

Rod Phillips: $74.5-M of disrepair in Ajax schools

Christine Elliott: $72.1-M of disrepair in Newmarket-Aurora schools

Raymond Cho: $111.8-M of disrepair in Scarborough-North schools

Vic Fedeli: $96-M of disrepair in Nipissing schools

Merrilee Fullerton: $77.5-M of disrepair in Ottawa-Carleton schools

Ernie Hardeman: $118.8-M of disrepair in Oxford schools

Lisa MacLeod: $98.8-M of disrepair in Nepean schools

Monte McNaughton: $131.4-M of disrepair in Lambton-Kent-Middlesex schools

Lisa Thompson: $113.8-M of disrepair in Huron-Bruce schools

Jeff Yurek: $176.9-M of disrepair in Elgin-Middlesex-London

The provincial education funding formula has allowed this gobsmacking amount of disrepair to accumulate in buildings where children spend their days. The COVID-19 pandemic has revealed the criticality of safe, healthy, well-maintained school buildings that provide environments conducive to learning and working. The COVID-19 pandemic has also revealed that, with political will, previously unimaginable public resources can be found and allocated.

The time is now to demand that our provincial government prioritize public education and schools by providing the funding that is actually needed. The time is now for political will to be applied so that previously unimaginable public resources can be found and allocated to ensure all Ontario schools are safe, healthy, well-maintained buildings that provide environments conducive to learning and working. Adequate and stable provincial funding is imperative for a safe return to school amidst a global pandemic and, quite frankly, for always.

Public Education and Schools are Essential

July 14, 2020

Across North America, families are realizing that public education and schools are essential. In this July 6, 2020 article entitled, “Reopening Schools Was Just an Afterthought: Americans found out the hard way that education is essential infrastructure” by in The Atlantic, Juliette Kayyem noted that, “recent headlines have heaped scorn upon the values of a society that seemingly prioritized inessential businesses over schools. “We Have to Focus on Opening Schools, Not Bars,” The New York Times declared. “Close the Bars. Reopen the Schools,” a piece in Vox implored. The hashtag #schoolsbeforebars is trending.”

Kayyem went on to state that in her opinion, “two things need to happen before students can go back to school: First, Americans and their elected representatives must consciously decide that children’s needs are worth accepting some additional risk. Second, states and communities must commit the money and effort necessary to reinvent education under radically changed circumstances. She worries that in the United States, at all levels of government, elected officials simply have not classified education as a crucial form of infrastructure in need of protection. 

In Canada, the situation seems similar relative to how our elected officials have prioritized public education and schools to date. In the Globe & Mail Editorial entitled, “In seven weeks, schools are supposed to reopen. So what’s the plan?”, published on July 10, 2020, the Globe’s editorial board stated that, “as society reopens, schools have not been the top priority they need and deserve to be” and that “more should have already been done to tackle the challenge of reopening schools, for the benefit of students, parents and the country as a whole.” They also noted that “if Canada can figure out how people can get a haircut, go shopping or share the waters of a public swimming pool, surely plans could already be in place for the start of school.” 

The Globe editorial board recognized that the minimal community transmission in Canadian communities in recent weeks ought to make the reopening of schools more viable. Quebec is one province that is going for it with plans to resume full-time schooling all the way through high school in September, with safety measures in place. 

Some parents in other provinces are also seeking a full-time return to school in September. On Saturday, July 11, 2020, scores of Ontario parents attended a rally at Queen’s Park to demand that Ontario’s government commit to reopening schools full-time in September, and commit to funding the required safety measures. On Friday, July 10, a group of Ontario parents copied Fix Our Schools on a letter they wrote to the Premier and Minister Lecce also asking for a commitment to prioritize a full-time return to school in September, and outlining a 30-point plan for consideration.

Trustees and local school boards in Ontario are also calling on the provincial government to prioritize public education and schools. In Toronto, TDSB Trustees Jennifer Story and Rachel Chernos Lin have been in the news this past week and have led the charge in getting a motion passed called “A reopening that works for schools, children and families.”

Among many urgent requests included in the motion, the TDSB has requested that our provincial government provide, as previously requested in our Board’s letter to the Minister of Education on May 22, 2020, the necessary funding supports to School Boards for all extra Covid-19 costs including PPE, additional staffing, additional transportation, IT devices, mental health and well-being supports, cleaning supplies and repair/maintenance including, but not limited to, ventilation issues, touch-free sinks and soap dispensers for handwashing, and water bottle refill stations“.

Fix Our Schools has collected information from parents, teachers, and education workers across the province about the current issues in Ontario classrooms relative to ensuring good ventilation. Sadly, many Ontario classrooms either do not have windows at all, have windows that do not open, or have windows that only open a tiny bit – hardly sufficient to ensure good ventilation.

In the coming weeks, Fix Our Schools is going to be turning our focus to the importance of Hand hygiene for a safe reopening of our schools in September. On June 19, Premier Ford and Education Minister Lecce provided us with their proposed “approach” for a safe return to schools in September that notes the following about hand hygiene:

  • Hand hygiene refers to hand washing or hand sanitizing to remove or kill the virus and is the most effective way to reduce the transmission of organisms.
  • Education: Staff and students should be provided with targeted, age-appropriate education in proper hand hygiene and respiratory etiquette. Local public health units can provide additional guidance. Age-appropriate posters or signage should be placed around the school.
  • Supplies: Staff and students should have the supplies they need to conduct appropriate hand hygiene and respiratory etiquette and these supplies should be easily accessible.
  • Alcohol Based Hand Rub (ABHR) with a minimum 60% alcohol concentration (60-90% recommended in community settings) throughout the school (including ideally at the entry point to each classroom) and/or plain liquid soap in dispensers, sinks and paper towels in dispensers.
    • Soap and water are preferred as it is the most effective method and least likely to cause harm if accidentally ingested
    • ABHR can be used by children. It is most effective when hands are not visibly soiled
    • For any dirt, blood, body fluids (urine/feces), it is preferred that hands be washed with soap and water to remove this “organic material”
    • Safe placement of the ABHR to avoid consumption is important, especially for young children
  • Tissues and lined, no-touch waste baskets (i.e., foot pedal-operated, hand sensor, open basket).
  • Support or modifications allowing students with special needs to regularly perform hand hygiene as independently as possible.
  • Hand hygiene should be conducted by anyone entering the school and incorporated into the daily schedule at regular intervals during the day, above and beyond what is usually recommended (e.g., before eating food, after using the washroom).
  • Possible options would be to have regular scheduled hand hygiene breaks based on a pre-specified schedule
  • Students may need assistance or supervision

Unfortunately, the sad fact is that much work has to be done in the coming weeks to ensure students, teachers, and education workers are able to practice the hand hygiene required. For instance, let’s consider only the one aspect noted above on hand sanitizer. The provincial government has recommended that hand sanitizer stations are available at the entry point of every classroom and, presumably would like those stations filled all the time with hand sanitizer. However, no provincial funding has been allocated to said measure.

 

If we only consider the cost of the actual hand sanitizer and don’t even consider the cost of the initial installation of hand sanitizer stations and regular maintenance and refilling of said stations, we think a very conservative estimate is that each Ontario student might use $2 of hand sanitizer each month. If we extend that to covering the cost of hand sanitizer for 2-million students for 10 months of the year, we quickly arrive at a yearly cost of $40-million – just for hand sanitizer.

If you are a student, parent, teacher or education worker with concerns about how proper hand hygiene will be achieved in September, we would like to hear from you with the name of your local school, the hand hygiene issue you are concerned about and if you know your local MPP and/or the name of your provincial riding, that would be great too! Please contact us today to share any concerns you have about your local school being able to ensure that all students, teachers and education workers will be able to practice proper hand hygiene in September to help avoid the spread of COVID in classrooms.

Provincial funding should be flowing immediately to school boards to ensure proper hand hygiene is achievable for September. Regardless of the model that ends up being adopted for back-to-schools, every school in the Province must ensure that soap dispensers are secure and in good working order, and that hand sanitizer stations are installed at all entry points to the school and to each classroom. If the Province believes that its ongoing $1.4-billion/year capital investment will be sufficient for school boards to find money in their capital budgets to conduct these types of projects in the coming two months, then the Province is being disingenuous. The repair backlog in Ontario’s publicly funded schools has continued to increase to a whopping $16.3-billion even with yearly investments of $1.4-billion/year since June 2016. School boards often end up only having sufficient funding to deal with reactive repairs and not the proactive repairs required – especially in a global pandemic. We look forward to hearing from you!

Letter to Premier Ford and Minister Lecce from Parents

July 12, 2020

Fix Our Schools was copied on this letter to Premier Ford, Minister Lecce, Minister Elliott, and Dr. Williams from a group of elementary school parents who live in Toronto and who are advocating for a full-time return to school in September. Fix Our Schools has bolded the recommendations from parents that pertain specifically to school infrastructure, the focus of our campaign, but wanted to share their letter in its entirety, as Ontario families consider what back to school will look like in September.

Dear Premier Ford, Minister Lecce, Minister Elliott, Dr. Williams and trusted officials,

We want to share the many ideas we have about a safe return-to-school for elementary students for the 2020-2021 school year (note that we are not ignoring high schools; we simply don’t have enough experience to offer ideas).

We want life to return to normal, but we are not naïve enough to believe that that is possible yet. However, we do not believe that the hybrid plan that is being encouraged is the safest decision either. If it is not safe to open schools, then do not. However, if it is safe to return part-time with 15 students/class, then it is SAFER to return to school FULL-TIME with 15 kids/class.

We are concerned about where all these kids will be the days they are not in school. We know they cannot all be at home safe and sound and that many, if not most of them, will require childcare arrangements.  That is taking a cohort of 15 students and expanding it possibly into 120 other contacts in childcare alone. This is simply not an acceptable plan. It’s not the safe route. It WILL lead to a greater spread of COVID-19 and it will cost the healthcare system and our economy greatly.

We would like to outline a plan to give these kids a sense of normalcy while remaining safe. It is not free. It will require short-term investment. Considering EQAO has been canceled for 2 years we should be saving a lot of money right there that could be moved into the education budget.

1. Keep the children in one daily cohort, not several a week, by returning to school at 5 days/week. If school is safe part-time, then it is certainly safer full-time.

2. Planning-time teachers would have to go to the classroom, not the students to the teacher. Each planning teacher would be restricted to a cohort, and not the whole school. Not ideal, but safer. Classroom teachers would spend their planning time in a cohorted work room or staff room, under safety measures.

3. Fire codes would need to be relaxed so that high traffic doorways always stay open (main office, stairwells, washrooms, copy rooms etc.).

4. When going out for recess one student or teacher holds the door open until everyone in their cohort exits. This should be done from the back of the door so that the person holding the door is not being passed by everyone. This could be avoided if the doors can lock open.

5. Install touch-free hand sanitizing stations at all entryways and classroom doors.

6. Convert all drinking fountains into touchless water bottle refilling stations. As this would be costly, start by making sure every school has at least one.

7. Assign dedicated eLearning teachers for each grade from Board level, not school level, within a manageable ratio. Classroom teachers focus on their class. eLearning teachers focus on QUALITY, effective e-learning. This is also an excellent option for teachers who are immunocompromised who are not ready to go back into schools. Their positions in the schools, if required, are filled by LTOs so they do not lose their positions.

8. Families would have the option to continue 100% e-learning from home. Dedicate a principal or superintendent to supervise the e-learning program. Devices would be loaned from the homeschool, if necessary. Students wishing to return to the classroom would be required to give at least a week’s notice.

9. The Ministry of Education needs to fund the Boards so that empty school buildings and classrooms (where suitable) can be reopened to allow for student/staff distancing and/or the addition of portables where possible. Smaller class sizes every day. Use spaces like libraries for classrooms since it is unlikely ‘library’ would be happening for the time being. For example, core French rooms are now classrooms and those teachers will travel to their students, same as planning time teachers.

10. School should resume as normal as possible for students, as per the Sick Kids and Canadian Pediatric Society recommendations. Many studies from other nations have shown that the risk to children is lower. We still need to protect staff, which is why cohorts are important and not putting students in a situation where they require childcare.

11. The first few weeks back should be dedicated to assessing where students are in their learning and how to fill the gaps brought on by so many months of missed classroom time.

12. Staff should be able to wear appropriate PPE as per their comfort in the classroom (not mandatory). Washable/reusable cloth masks, face shields, gloves etc. Whatever makes them feel safe. Same rules apply to students. Where possible, teachers should wear clear masks for kinder, primary and special needs students so that their facial expressions are conveyed. These are not expensive items.

13. Washable cloth masks should be worn by any students or teachers when leaving the classroom/cohorted area where they may pass other students not part of their cohort. Some students would be fine with this and others would not, therefore possibly only a handful of students could do classroom errands in the school, like taking attendance to the office.

14. Better yet, switch all attendance to electronic methods and email to the secretary from the classroom to reduce students in the hallways and in the school office.

15. The return of indoor physical education should follow the recommendations of local health authorities. Phys. Ed. should take place outdoors whenever possible with appropriate distancing guidelines. Students should not have to wear masks during physical activity but maintain space between each other.

16. Assemblies of any sort should be done via video link and watched in classrooms.

17. Washrooms and hallways should be restricted to cohorts where possible. If a school has 4 student washrooms there should be at least 4 cohorts.

18. Staff rooms must be reduced in capacity with 2m distance between staff outside of the same cohort. Using office dividers of some sort would be helpful. Tables in staff rooms should be used only by staff in the same cohort.

19. Outdoor recess should not be restricted other than safety measures for re-entering the school as mentioned above (door held/locked open, sanitizing stations, cohorted hallways).

20. Outdoor classrooms and outdoor learning opportunities (like physical education) should be implemented whenever possible.

21. Schools with outdated ventilation should be upgraded, which should be done regardless. Windows which barely open do not provide proper ventilation.

22. Parents and guardians will have restricted access to the school office and must wear a mask and sanitize hands before entering the school.

23. School offices should install a Plexiglas barrier to separate the entrance area from the staff in the open office to protect them from the office traffic.

24. Each office should have a restricted number of guests at once (whether teachers, students, parents/guardians, etc.) based on the ability/space allowable to remain distanced from one another.

25. All furniture in shared areas should be made of materials that are easily cleaned (not soft or porous).

26. Elementary schools must maintain continued student safety measures for student pick up and drop off procedures. Students may be released from school slower than in the past by allowing one class outside before the next class enters the hallway to go outside. Patience.

27. School bus drivers will need to sanitize high-touch areas between every run (not twice daily as currently planned). Rails/handles, seats backs and tops. If routes can maintain cohorts that would be ideal. Students who do not NEED bussing should be encouraged not to use it at this time but be able to return to bussing when they require it.

28. Before & after school care could possibly be done in the gym/stage/other open area since they are unlikely to be used for the time being. Maintain cohorts from classes where possible. Divide gym using easy-to-clean dividers. Furniture used should be easy to clean and done so before/after each care period.

29. Poll all registered students (and staff) on if they want to go back to full-time or continue home eLearning no later than July 15th. This will allow adequate numbers for planning and staffing.

30. And the most crucial piece of the reopening puzzle — hire more custodians, even if just temporary 1-year contracts. The custodians will need to make sure there are always proper soap and supplies in washrooms (it is sad that I have to say this, but sadly this is reality for our students). Special attention will need to be paid to high traffic areas, door knobs etc. Older students should be responsible for cleaning their own space daily since this virus does not require heavy-duty disinfectants to kill it.

We sincerely hope that you take these ideas into account. We know they require investment and planning, and we believe our students deserve it. They need education and they need as much normalcy as they can get to maintain mental health. For many students, school is their only safe place. So, let us follow science and invest what we need to to do this right. Our students deserve and have a right to an education.

This is a time for investment, creativity, and teamwork. Together, we can all make a full 5-day return to school possible and safe for our students, our teachers, our families, and our economy.

Sincerely, — A group of parents presenting recommendations for a safe return to school, full-time.

Back-to-school “Plan” for Ontario’s 2-million Students

July 8, 2020

In the weeks since Education Minister Lecce announced the “plan” for Ontario’s 2-million children to return to school in September, many concerns have been raised by many people.

In a July 2, 2020 opinion piece in the Globe and Mail entitled, “Education is a human right, but it certainly hasn’t been a COVID-19 priority”, Lauren Dobson-Hughes states that, “Education is a human right. But you would not know this in most of Canada, where lockdowns are ending, people are returning to work, and patios and nail salons are open, all while parents are hearing that children might only be attending school a couple of days a week in the fall – if schools open at all.” She goes on to state that, “We must make the safe return to school a political and national priority.” Fix Our Schools wholeheartedly agrees with the notion that publicly funded education and schools must be prioritized. We have been advocating for safe, healthy, well-maintained schools in Ontario since 2014. Since late May of this year, we have been urging our provincial government to prioritize public education and schools in this province and to commit to the funding required for a safe, healthy return to school in September.

In a June 29, 2020 article in Today’s Parent entitled, “Ontario’s back-to-school plan ignores a glaringly obvious problem”  Kalli Anderson asserts that, “a truly responsible, proactive plan for the fall would include hiring more teachers and early childhood educators and working with municipalities to free up additional physical spaces, like community centres, that could be used for small-group learning. A truly ambitious, forward-thinking plan might involve experiments in outdoor education or other experiential non-classroom-based learning. If our government is actually concerned about children and families, it needs to invest now to avoid a cascade of further public health, education, and economic crises in years to come.” Fix Our Schools also agrees wholeheartedly that our provincial government must invest now and pursue an ambitious, forward-thinking plan to eliminate the almost $17-billion of disrepair that plagues Ontario’s schools and to pursue out-of-the-box solutions that could leverage outdoor learning and alternate spaces in the short-term.

As Fix Our Schools has maintained since 2014, our publicly funded schools are critical infrastructure. However, successive provincial governments have allowed over $16-billion of disrepair to accumulate in these buildings over the last several decades. The COVID-19 crisis has demonstrated that, with political will, previously unimaginable public resources can be found and allocated. Now is the time for political will to be applied to our publicly funded schools and education system and public funds prioritized to pursue ambitious, forward-thinking plans for Ontario’s schools.

For instance, let’s consider ventilation in Ontario’s schools. The SickKids report recommends that good ventilation in classrooms ought to be part of a safe plan to return to school. However, the sad fact is that many schools in this province have classrooms with no windows, windows that do not open, windows that only open a tiny bit, and overall bad ventilation. When Fix Our Schools called out to citizens to provide specific examples of ventilation concerns, we heard back plenty of examples from across the province. Arguably, children, teachers, and education workers would always have benefited from good ventilation in classrooms. The COVID-19 pandemic has only served to emphasize the importance of good ventilation to learning and health. So again, let’s use this moment to exert the political will to make real change in how we prioritize and fund public education and schools in this province.

Ontario’s 2-million students need to know that the adults in charge are committed to their education, their mental health, and their development. Our economy also demands a prioritization of public education and schools. As our Education Minister said previously, “Our schools are a learning environment for 2-million students, and a workplace for almost 200,000 teachers and education workers. The re-opening of schools in a safe and effective way is essential for the development and mental health of our children, our economy, and our well-being as a province”

Fix Our Schools agrees with this quote from Minister Lecce. We will believe that his words actually mean something when we see his government commit to prioritizing public schools and education by allocating adequate, stable provincial funding.

Ventilation Is Going to be a Challenge at Many Ontario Schools

June 30, 2020

Fix Our Schools advocates for all of Ontario’s publicly funded schools to be safe, healthy, well-maintained buildings that provide an environment conducive to learning and working. When we began this parent-led, non-partisan campaign in 2014, provincial funding for school repairs was only $150-million/year – only one-tenth of the amount that industry standards suggest was needed to keep the buildings where 2-million children spend their days in a state of good repair. This chronic and gross provincial underfunding of schools had resulted in $15-billion of disrepair in Ontario’s schools as of 2014 and, even with significantly increased provincial funding in recent years, the overall disrepair in schools has continued to increase to $16.3-billion.

All of this to say, the publicly funded schools in our province were not necessarily safe, healthy, or well-maintained – even before a global pandemic struck this year. With the arrival of COVID-19 and the ensuing school closures, we are now faced with the challenge of how schools will safely re-open in September. Ontario’s students and families are craving not only the learning provided in schools, but also the sense of routine, community, and purpose found at school – not to mention the all-important childcare.

The SickKids’ June 17, 2020 report entitled, “COVID-19: Recommendations for School Reopening”  was cited heavily by Premier Ford and Education Minister Lecce when they released their approach to re-opening schools a few days after the SickKids report was released. Ventilation was cited as an important element of a safe return to school.

“Adequately ventilated classroom environments (e.g. open windows with air flow, and improved airflow through ventilation systems) are expected to be associated with less likelihood of transmission compared with poorly ventilated settings.”

Arguably, if Fix Our Schools had been able to commission SickKids to write a report years ago about what would constitute a safe, healthy school environment for children to learn, medical professionals would have also said, even pre-pandemic, that adequately ventilated classroom would be desirable. And yet when Fix Our Schools recently asked citizens to share details on their local schools and how equipped the buildings were to provide adequate ventilation in classrooms, this is a sample of what we heard, indicating that poor indoor air quality, and poor ventilation has been a common issue for years in Ontario’s schools. In fact, many schools across the province have classrooms with no windows, windows that do not open and/or windows that only open a tiny bit – hardly conducive to good air-flow and ventilation:

“The HVAC system at York Humber High School in Toronto has been broken for more than a decade.”

“My daughter attends Tom Thomson School in Burlington. Her classroom this year only had windows along the top of the outside classroom wall. These windows were not reachable, provided very little natural light, and did not open.“

“Harry Bowes Public School in Whitchurch-Stouffville is a lovely school and built within the past 20 years. However, the air circulation is terrible, and windows barely even open. Most teachers and students are continually sick and allergies are a problem while in the building as well.”

“Memorial City Elementary School in Hamilton is 100 years old and the dust coming out of the ventilation system seems that old too. While the windows are newer, the tracks are so badly gummed up that only a couple can be opened and they cannot open much.”

“At Mount Hope School in Hamilton, the upper-level windows do not open at all and the lower level windows only open a bit.”

“As a parent, I’ve been concerned about poor ventilation, no fresh air at Equinox Alternative School in Toronto for years! I am a volunteer in the school and can confirm it is almost never a comfortable temperature. With the added serious concerns regarding COVID-19, and the clear medical guidance (commissioned by the Province!) that fresh air can help reduce transmission, it’s the time to invest in windows.”

“At Earl of March Secondary School in Ottawa, there are many interior classrooms that do not have windows. The school is 50 years old and the HVAC has never worked properly.”

“At Holy Trinity Catholic Elementary School in Sudbury, the kindergarten classroom has no windows. It used to be a resource room, but was converted into a regular classroom due to increased enrollment.”

Fix Our Schools would love to hear from even more citizens about ventilation concerns in their local schools so please contact us today with the name of your local school, the issues you are concerned about, your local MPP and/or the name of your provincial riding. We will continue to add your voices to this large and growing list of detailed concerns below. As Fix Our Schools has submitted to the Province and said many times already, provincial funding should be flowing immediately to school boards to repair and renew school buildings to ensure they are better equipped for a safe school re-opening in September. Provincial funding for schools continues to be grossly inadequate, resulting in ongoing year-over-year increases in repair backlogs in Ontario’s schools.

If you see the name of your local school(s) below, we urge you to please contact your local MPP (we’ve provided emails below) and also Premier Ford (premier@ontario.ca) and Minister Lecce (stephen.lecce@pc.ola.org) to voice your concerns.

  • Comments and issues presented in this blog post have been submitted to Fix Our Schools from citizens, and have not been verified by Fix Our Schools.
Ventilation in Ontario Schools: Public Concerns July 2020
School Name School Board Ventilation Issue MPP Riding Party
Forest Glen Public School PDSB Windows barely open Hon. Kaleed Rasheed
email: kaleed.rasheed@pc.ola.org
Twitter: @krasheedmpp		 Mississauga East—Cooksville PC
Gladys Speers Public School HDSB Windows that don’t open
Windows that barely open		 Hon. Stephen Crawford
email: stephen.crawford@pc.ola.org
Twitter: @stcrawford2		 Oakville PC
Tom Thomson School HDSB Classrooms with windows only at ceiling
Windows do not open
Some shared spaces with no windows		 Hon. Jane McKenna
email: jane.mckenna@pc.ola.org
FACEBOOK: @janemckennapc		 Burlington PC
Central Public School HDSB Poor ventilation Hon. Jane McKenna
email: jane.mckenna@pc.ola.org
FACEBOOK: @janemckennapc		 Burlington PC
John T. Tuck Public School HDSB Windows on top floor barely open
Office spaces with no windows		 Hon. Jane McKenna
email: jane.mckenna@pc.ola.org
FACEBOOK: @janemckennapc		 Burlington PC
Harry Bowes PS YRDSB Windows barely open
Poor air circulation		 Hon. Paul Calandra
email: paul.calandra@pc.ola.org
Twitter: @PaulCalandra		 Markham—Stouffville PC
Randall Public School YRDSB Kindergarten class windows won’t open Hon. Logan Kanapathi
email: logan.kanapathi@pc.ola.org
Twitter: @LoganKanapathi		 Markham—Thornhill PC
Tait St. Public School WRDSB Windows don’t fully open Hon. Belinda C. Karahalios
email: belinda.karahalios@pc.ola.org
Twitter: @KarahaliosPC		 Cambridge PC
Mount Hope School HWDSB Upper level windows do not open
Lower level windows barely open		 Hon. Donna Skelly
email: donna.skelly@pc.ola.org
Twitter: @SkellyHamilton		 Flamborough-Glanbrook PC
Earl of March Secondary School OCDSB Interior classrooms without windows
Poor ventilation system		 Hon. Merrilee Fullerton
email: merrilee.fullerton@pc.ola.org
Twitter: @DrFullertonMPP		 Kanata—Carleton PC
Center Wellington District High School UGDSB Windows don’t open
A/C functions poorly, or is not turned on
Classrooms on 3rd floor reach 40°C		 Hon. Ted Arnott
email: ted.arnott@pc.ola.org
Twitter: @MPPArnottWHH		 Wellington-Halton Hills PC
Roden P.S. TDSB Windows that do not open Hon. Peter Tabuns
email: tabunsp-qp@ndp.on.ca
Twitter: @Peter_Tabuns		 Toronto—Danforth NDP
Equinox Alternative School TDSB Windows that do not open Hon. Peter Tabuns
email: tabunsp-qp@ndp.on.ca
Twitter: @Peter_Tabuns		 Toronto—Danforth NDP
RH McGregor Elementary School TDSB No windows that open in entire school
School is open concept with no walls
School is attached to a medical building
Roof leaks		 Hon. Peter Tabuns
email: tabunsp-qp@ndp.on.ca
Twitter: @Peter_Tabuns		 Toronto—Danforth NDP
Duke of a Connaught Public School TDSB The windows barely open (open diagonally to about 30 degrees)
Unbearable heat year round		 Hon. Peter Tabuns
email: tabunsp-qp@ndp.on.ca
Twitter: @Peter_Tabuns		 Toronto—Danforth NDP
Island Public school TDSB Classrooms with no windows Hon. Chris Glover
email: CGlover-CO@ndp.on.ca
Twitter @ChrisGloverMPP		 Spadina—Fort York NDP
Crescent Town School TDSB Five classrooms with no windows Hon. Rima Berns-McGown
email: RBerns-McGown-QP@ndp.on.ca
Twitter: @beyrima		 Beaches—East York NDP
Gledhill Junior Public School TDSB No ventilation
Classroom sink doesn’t work		 Hon. Rima Berns-McGown
email: RBerns-McGown-QP@ndp.on.ca
Twitter: @beyrima		 Beaches—East York NDP
York Humber High School TDSB Windows are locked closed
HVAC constantly breaking down		 Hon. Faisal Hassan
email: FHassan-QP@ndp.on.ca
Twitter: @FaisalHassanNDP		 York South—Weston NDP
Humberside Public School TDSB Windows barely open
Windows require textbooks to prop open
Unbearably hot year round
School has no fans		 Hon. Bhutila Karpoche
email: BKarpoche-QP@ndp.on.ca
Twitter: @BhutilaKarpoche		 Parkdale-High Park NDP
Western Technical Commercial School TDSB Windows have broken frames & cranks Hon. Bhutila Karpoche
email: BKarpoche-QP@ndp.on.ca
Twitter: @BhutilaKarpoche		 Parkdale-High Park NDP
Parkdale School HWDSB Some windows don’t open Hon. Paul Miller
email: pmiller-qp@ndp.on.ca
Twitter: @mppPaulMiller		 Hamilton East – Stoney Creek NDP
Memorial City Elementary School HWDSB Dust coming out of the ventilation system
Windows difficult to open
Windows barely open (3 inches)		 Hon. Andrea Horwath
email: horwatha-qp@ndp.on.ca
Twitter: @AndreaHorwath		 Hamilton Centre NDP
St. John Catholic Elementary WCDSB Basement classrooms with windows that don’t open
Poor ventilation system		 Hon. Laura Mae Lindo
email: LLindo-QP@ndp.on.ca
Twitter: @LauraMaeLindo		 Kitchener Centre NDP
Kingston Collegiate & Vocational Institute LDSB Windowless classrooms
Windows that don’t have the mechanisms to remain propped open
Students moving this winter to new school that doesn’t have windows that open		 Hon. Ian Arthur
email: IArthur-QP@ndp.on.ca
Twitter: @IanArthurMPP		 Kingston and the Islands NDP
Holy Trinity Catholic Elementary School SCDSB Kindergarten class with no windows Hon. Jamie West
email: JWest-QP@ndp.on.ca
Twitter: @jamiewestndp		 Sudbury NDP
Lo-Ellen Park Secondary School RDSB Classrooms with one small window that barely open
Science classroom with tiny window, no venting		 Hon. Jamie West
email: JWest-QP@ndp.on.ca
Twitter: @jamiewestndp		 Sudbury NDP
St. Thomas Aquinas Secondary School DPCDSB Windows only open 3-4 inches
There are only 2 windows per classroom
Many rooms do not have screens
HVAC malfunctions		 Hon. Gurratan Singh
email: GSingh-QP@ndp.on.ca
Twitter: @GurratanSingh		 Brampton East NDP
Bruce Public School TDSB Windows barely open Hon. Peter Tabuns
email: tabunsp-qp@ndp.on.ca
Twitter: @Peter_Tabuns		 Toronto—Danforth NDP
École secondaire Toronto Ouest (shares building with Saint-Frère-André) CSViamonde Classrooms without windows
A/C is ancient, not working
Sewage system malfunctions		 Hon. Marit Stiles
email: MStiles-QP@ndp.on.ca
Twitter: @maritstiles		 Davenport NDP
École secondaire catholique Saint-Frère-André TCDSB Classrooms without windows
A/C is ancient, not working
Sewage system malfunctions		 Hon. Marit Stiles
email: MStiles-QP@ndp.on.ca
Twitter: @maritstiles		 Davenport NDP
Carson Grove Elementary School OCDSB Windows don’t open
Some classrooms have no windows		 Hon. Lucille Collard
email:
LCollard.mpp.co@liberal.ola.org
Twitter: @LucilleCollard		 Ottawa-Vanier LIBERAL
Duncan J Schoular Public School UCDSB Design for school was to have a/c installed, so few windows, no real ventilation Hon. Randy Hillier
email: RHillier-CO@ola.org
Twitter: @randyhillier		 Lanark—Frontenac—Kingston IND.

 

Let Premier Ford Know that a Safe Reopening of Schools is a Priority!

June 26, 2020

If you want to see publicly funded education and schools in Ontario be prioritized to ensure a safe, effective return to school in September, we encourage you to click here and then click one more time to send a pre-written letter to Premier Ford and Education Minister Lecce requesting they:

  • Commit to providing the required funding for school boards to safely re-open in September
  • Work with local school boards and local public health officials to provide weekly updates to the public on the school re-opening/planning process
  • Commit to working with all key stakeholders, including local school boards, public health officials, teachers, education workers, principals, parents, and students to develop a commonly understood definition of “safe, effective return to school” and to leverage all stakeholders’ insights, experience, skills, and knowledge – which will be needed to get Ontario’s students back to school in September!  

Please include your MPP’s email address, your name, and your address before hitting send.

Premier Ford’s Back to School “Plan”: Let’s Break it Down – Ventilation

June 24, 2020

On June 19, we finally heard from Premier Ford and Education Minister Lecce with their proposed “plan” for a safe return to schools in September. Well, as per the Ministry website, the government actually refers to it as an “approach” that must be interpreted and then executed by school boards. In this “approach” document, it is noted that, “Adequately ventilated classroom environments are expected to be associated with less likelihood of transmission compared with poorly ventilated settings.”

 

Specifically, school boards are given the following guidance:

    • “Avoid recirculation of air, as far as practically possible and ensure clean filters.
    • In general, ventilating indoor environments with fresh air, whether by increasing the outdoor air ratio of the HVAC system settings as much as possible or by opening windows, and avoiding or reducing recirculation, will dilute the air exhaled by the occupants including any infectious particles. Even if this is not feasible for the whole facility, consider for higher risk areas, e.g., where crowding may be an issue.
    • Recommended maintenance measures for air handling systems (including inspection and replacement of filters, if applicable) are essential to follow.
  • There may be instances of bladed and bladeless fan and portable air conditioner use in schools which also generate air currents that could affect respiratory droplets
    • Minimizing their use as much as possible (e.g., lowest setting), and making adjustments to direct the airflow upwards, away from surfaces and occupants may help gradually mix exhaled respiratory droplets while minimizing turbulence.
    • These devices also require regular maintenance, e.g., surface cleaning including the blades; following manufacturer’s directions for maintenance and removing any moisture or water collected from the portable air conditioners.
  • Do not open windows and doors if doing so poses a safety or health risk, e.g., risk of falling, triggering asthma symptoms, risk of bees/wasps, to students and staff and ensure that COVID-19 measures do not introduce new occupational hazards to the setting, e.g., do not prop open fire doors to increase ventilation/reduce exposure to frequently touched door handles.”

Unfortunately, the sad fact is that there are many classrooms in Ontario’s publicly funded schools with no windows, or windows that do not open, or with windows that only open a tiny bit – not nearly enough to create airflow and good ventilation. For example, both Roden Public School and Equinox Alternative School in the TDSB have no windows that open anywhere in the building.

If your local school has classrooms with this issue – we want to hear from you with the name of your local school, the issue you are concerned about and if you know your local MPP and/or the name of your provincial riding, that would be great too! Please contact us today to share any concerns you have about your local school being able to ensure the ventilation in classrooms that will be required to help avoid the spread of COVID in classrooms.

Provincial funding should be flowing immediately to school boards to fix this issue. If the Province believes that its ongoing $1.4-billion/year capital investment will be sufficient for school boards to find money in their capital budgets to conduct these types of projects in the coming two months, then the Province is being disingenuous. The repair backlog in Ontario’s publicly funded schools has continued to increase to a whopping $16.3-billion even with yearly investments of $1.4-billion/year since June 2016. School boards often end up only having sufficient funding to deal with reactive repairs and not the proactive repairs required – especially in a global pandemic.