Community News
Education unions call on government to close schools or vaccinate teachers
BY PAUL JUNOR
As the COVID-19 cases increase across Ontario, and cases of the variants of Concern (VOC) continues to escalate; teachers’ unions have raised the alarm bell.
On Monday, April 5th, 680 News reported that medical officers in Toronto, Peel and Ottawa have called on the Ontario government to implement another stay-at-home order instead of the emergency brake. A letter that they sent to Dr David Williams states, “While the implementation of additional province-wide public health measures is welcome, stronger measures will be required to reverse the surge our health units (among others) currently face.”
OSSTF has called on the government to close in-person learning in hotspots and switch to online learning in a media release on Tuesday, April 6th, 2021. The letter states, “We firmly believe that the most vulnerable citizens, including elderly Ontarians, frontline workers, those who work in long-term care homes must be prioritized, as well as those who are highly vulnerable to the virus, especially those in areas with high case counts. To that end, we are calling on the government to shift to remote learning, especially in areas where case counts are increasing at alarming rates, until education workers and teachers have had the opportunity to receive the vaccine and for it to have taken effect – in other words, Virtual Til Vaccinated.”
The choice is either school closure or vaccination.
There is currently a petition at change.org, which has received 67,408 signatures with a goal of 75,000 titled, “Vaccinate All Teachers and Support Staff ASAP.” The petition was started by Vince Volpe and is directed to Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau.
The petition states, “The Ontario government needs to prioritize teachers as essential workers and get them vaccinated immediately so we can keep our students in school and keep our teachers, staff and their families safe and healthy.”
The Ontario government has indicated that during phase 2 of the vaccination roll out, teachers may be vaccinated in mid-May instead of June as it had originally planned. Andrea Horwath, Leader of the NDP told 680 News that the Ontario government should ensure that education workers are vaccinated during the April break and to make adjustments to classrooms.
She states, “Parents, educators, and students across the province have been thrown into chaos once again. We must use this moment to make classrooms safer so students can safely return after the April break.”
In an open letter that was sent from TDSB union leaders to TDSB director, chair, Chief Medical officer and the Ontario Minister of Health on March 25th, 2021 there were four calls to actions. The third one states, “We call for a shift to online learning for the first four days after the long weekend and for at least the first week after the spring break in order to keep schools as safe as possible.” Richard Southern tweeted on Monday, April 6th. “
I asked Solicitor General Sylvia Jones if there is a plan to start vaccinating teachers now. She said the short answer is yes, that the province will have that ability when it gets more doses from the federal government (there are one million doses in the freezer in Ontario).
Patrick Brown, mayor of Brampton tweeted on Monday, April 5th, 2021, “If schools are being closed because they are a COVID-19 risk then why are we not vaccinating teachers during this multi-week closure.”
On Wednesday, April 7th, ETFO held a virtual press conference in conjunction with education unions, OSSTF, OECTA, AEFO as well as other education partners. It was held to express concerns about school safety and the importance of ensuring that education workers are vaccinated immediately.
CityTV News reported that the union leaders expressed their utmost belief that online learning should be adopted province-wide and not just in Toronto, Peel and Guelph until the government can ensure the safety of students and staff. They call for the mass vaccinations of education workers as a priority. The announcement of the third state of emergency by the Ford government on Wednesday, April 7th, effective 12:01 am Thursday, April 8th, 2021 did not indicate whether it applies to public schools.
Clearly, the education unions hoped it would.