Tag Archives: Hand Hygiene

What’s the Plan Premier Ford and Minister Lecce?

July 22, 2021

What is the plan for September for Ontario’s 2-million elementary and high school students to safely resume in-person learning? Having experienced the longest interruption of face-to-face learning in Canada, Ontario’s children surely deserve to be prioritized by Premier Ford and Minister Lecce. As we’ve previously stated, we believe that the Ford government has:

and in so doing, our provincial government has ultimately failed Ontario’s students and their families and our economy. Fix Our Schools sincere hope is that we will see a change in the approach of the Ford government as we head into the 2021/22 school year.

We read with interest the Ontario Science Table’s recent science briefing entitled, “School Operation for the 2021- 2022 Academic Year in the Context of the COVID-19 Pandemic” that was released on July 19, 2021. This science briefing emphasized that education is “children’s essential work”, that schools are of critical importance to students’ learning and overall well-being, and that in-person schooling is optimal for the vast majority of students.

The focus of the Fix Our Schools campaign continues to be ensuring safe, healthy, well-maintained school buildings that provide environments conducive to learning and working for all Ontario students, teachers, and education workers. With this lens in mind, we were struck by the attention given in the science briefing to special considerations required for rural, remote, and Indigenous communities; to indoor air quality (IAQ), achieved through proper ventilation and filtration; and to hand hygiene:

Indigenous Communities 

The July 19th science briefing clearly acknowledged that, “for rural, remote, and Indigenous communities, the COVID-19 pandemic has presented additional distinctive and substantial challenges for education delivery which has expanded inequities”. Specific to school infrastructure, the science briefing highlighted the following points:

  1. Ensure clear accountability for education support whether through federal or provincial resources.
  2. Remote learning is less accessible, due to technological challenges, in these communities.
  3. Aging infrastructure, including older HVAC and supplemental ventilation/filtration systems in many remote First Nations, Métis, and Inuit communities may impact the ability to properly ventilate schools and ensure adequate air quality, particularly during local outbreaks and in the colder months when opening windows is not an option.
  4. Schools in remote, rural, and First Nations, Métis, and Inuit communities that do not meet the appropriate minimum ventilation guidelines from ASHRAE Standard 62.1-2019, should be prioritized for upgrades.
  5. Overcrowded education infrastructure in some remote First Nations, Métis, and Inuit communities could make preventative measures such as cohorting and physical distancing difficult and could result in the need to shift to remote learning in some instances, further contributing to high rates of disengagement. Appropriate resources should be provided to ensure adequate space is available to support consistent in-person learning in these communities, and to ensure equitable access to digital learning resources.

Fix Our Schools must highlight that Canada’s federal government is responsible for First Nations School Infrastructure, and that even prior to the challenges of COVID-19, overcrowding, disrepair, and, unbelievably, something as essential as safe drinking water have all been issues that schools for Ontario’s Indigenous communities. Furthermore, our federal government was very late to provide what appears to have been grossly inadequate funding last summer for First Nations schools to be able to ensure a safe and effective reopening of schools in September 2020, amidst the COVID-19 pandemic.

With these realities as context, Prime Minister Trudeau, Carolyn Bennett, our federal Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations, and Marc Miller, our federal Minister of Indigenous Services must prioritize education and schools for all Indigenous Peoples for a safe return to school for September 2021.

Indoor Air Quality (IAQ)

As stated in the July 19th science briefing, “given the importance of indoor air quality for overall health and learning, achieving adequate ventilation in schools is an important investment to support improved health, academic performance and to assist in preventing the spread of several infectious diseases.”

The recommendations for achieving and maintaining adequate air quality through ventilation and filtration, as taken directly from the July 19, 2001 science briefing, are as follows:

  1. A systematic approach to identifying and prioritizing schools for ventilation upgrades should be undertaken. As a starting point, schools that do not meet the appropriate minimum ventilation guidelines from The American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) Standard 62.1-2019, should be prioritized for upgrades.
  2. Invest in school heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) system infrastructure and regular maintenance. This is of particular importance in schools where the system does not support good indoor air quality. HVAC systems can be optimized for a variety of objectives which may change in priority depending on the context, e.g., COVID-19 pandemic, extreme cold/heat events.
  3. During the pandemic, HVAC system function has been recommended to be optimized for respiratory particle removal (e.g., use of the highest rated Minimum Efficiency Reporting Value (MERV) filter that can be accommodated by the system, regular inspection of filters assembly, routine replacement of filters). In consultation with experts in physical plant design, air exchange rate and outdoor air intake can be increased. The limits of what is possible may be dictated by thermal comfort, humidity, and outdoor air quality.
  4. Consideration can be given to increasing ventilation/filtration above the minimum ASHRAE guidelines, where possible, where more respiratory aerosols are likely to be generated (e.g., music room, auditorium, cafeteria, gymnasium).
  5. Additional strategies can be used to improve air quality while awaiting HVAC system upgrades including the use of available outdoor learning environments; the opening of windows; and the use of portable air cleaners with high efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filter units in classrooms may be considered in spaces/classrooms with limited ability to achieve adequate ventilation (i.e., unable to open windows, no/insufficient HVAC ventilation), taking into consideration the transmission risk (e.g., age, classroom activities, community epidemiology). Please see page 19-20 of the science briefing for detailed recommendations on portable air cleaners. 
  6. Monitoring ventilation: It is important that HVAC and supplemental ventilation/filtration systems are regularly maintained and that measures are checked with the goal of optimization (e.g., air exchange rates, outdoor air intake, temperature, humidity). Carbon dioxide (CO2) levels can serve as a proxy measure for overall ventilation, but the CO2 level does not necessarily correlate with SARS-CoV-2 transmission risk. While CO2 monitoring has been suggested to be helpful when done properly, it requires expertise and communication and should not detract from ventilation upgrades.

Fix Our Schools urges the Ontario Science Table to acknowledge that all of these recommendations also require adequate, stable funding from the provincial government. And, while we agree that ventilation upgrades must be pursued immediately, we also must emphasize the importance of ultimately having in place:

  • commonly defined and understood standards for indoor air quality (IAQ)
  • acceptable tools and methods to ensure that all Ontario classrooms meet those IAQ standards

A July 20, 2021 Toronto Star article entitled, “What are Durham schools doing to improve ventilation, air quality for this fall?” outlines details on the ventilation and air-quality improvements that will be in place as students return to the classroom in four local school boards. Yet, readers are left wondering what these improvements have achieved in terms of outcomes of improved IAQ in classrooms.

A July 15, 2021 Toronto Star article entitled, “Ontario is opening up for Step 3: What you need to know as you head inside to share air with strangers” also outlines steps being taken to improve the indoor air quality of businesses and public spaces. Yet, readers are left wondering what actually constitutes “acceptable” IAQ (i.e. standards). These gaps must be filled with standards and measurement tools.

Hand Hygiene

As the July 19th science briefing outlines, “routine, frequent and proper hand hygiene (soap and water or hand sanitizer) is important in limiting transmission and should continue to be encouraged in schools. Routine hand hygiene is also beneficial for the prevention of many other childhood infections that have the potential to disrupt school attendance (e.g., gastrointestinal viral illnesses).”

Fix Our Schools urges the Ontario Science Table to acknowledge that access to proper hand-washing facilities is wanting in many Ontario classrooms, as is illustrated in this video. Accessible, effective hand-washing facilities require adequate, stable funding from the provincial government, as does having sufficient caretakers in each school to ensure soap dispensers are filled in a timely manner.

There is much work to be done in to ensure schools are safe and healthy environments for all students, teachers and education workers – not only as the Ford government and the Trudeau government plan for and invest in a safe return to school this coming September, but for the long-term.

 

What does Hand Hygiene in School Look Like in Ontario?

February 16, 2021

With many Ontario children back to in-class learning, the timing seems appropriate for considering hand hygiene in our schools. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), “handwashing with soap and water has been considered a measure of personal hygiene for centuries”. Yet, if we take a look at what hand hygiene looks like in Ontario schools, we may be slightly appalled.

This video of how handwashing must be done one hand at a time at one Ontario school is a reminder that there is much work to be done in Ontario schools to ensure they are safe and healthy environments for students and staff – not only during this pandemic but for the long-term.


The provincial funding provided to school boards for both operating and capital expenses has been inadequate for so many years, that it seems as though soap in schools has become a luxury item; sinks in classrooms have been built to a quality level that they cannot even accommodate regular hand-washing in the midst of a global pandemic (which begs the question, what exactly were they designed to accommodate?);

and countless school washrooms across the province have been allowed to deteriorate to a point where students and staff are uncomfortable using them even for urgent needs, let alone using them for handwashing. In fact, back in 2017, we wrote this blog about a group of grade 5 students who were advocating for better washrooms in their school. Heartwarming to see this kind of activism in young people, and at the same time, heartbreaking that this type of activism would even be necessary, given that Ontario prides itself on having a “world-class education system”.  

https://twitter.com/KellyLMNOP/status/1299350949106978817

Chronic provincial underfunding of schools and education has, indeed, caught up to us. Amidst a pandemic, handwashing is an important hygiene practice in schools and, certainly, as we move past this pandemic, hand hygiene in schools will continue to be important to ensuring healthy students and staff amidst more “normal” times to prevent the spread of colds and flus. NDP Leader Andrea Horwath has gone so far as to call for investments in things like touch-free faucets, such as the ones we see in local community centers, and ON Route rest stops along the 401 and 400 highways. Fix Our Schools wholeheartedly agrees with this call to action and urges our provincial government to invest in our schools to ensure they are healthy, safe, well-maintained buildings for students today…and for years to come. 

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!