草莓社区

鈥�Staff are exhausted鈥�My students deserve better鈥�COVID has greatly impacted our school.鈥�

鈥�The role has turned into a dumping ground,聽and we are expected to just take it all and keep working,鈥澛爏ays an Ontario聽school principal聽describing聽how聽their聽job聽has dramatically changed since the beginning of the pandemic.

Since March 2020, COVID-19 has caused聽upheaval in education,聽with聽schools, students, and families constantly聽having to聽pivot聽between聽closures,聽virtual/hybrid/in-person learning, and an onslaught of聽health and safety protocols.聽On Monday, Ontario Premier Doug Ford聽announced聽that all schools will move to remote learning starting January 5 until at least January 17. This decision聽comes聽3 days聽after聽Chief Medical Officer of Health, Dr. Kieran Moore聽said the return-to-school date would be pushed 2 days from January 3 to January 5.

Principals聽raise red flags

Responses from聽草莓社区鈥檚 Annual Ontario School Survey聽2021-22聽are revealing just how聽difficult these continuous changes聽have been on all fronts: for students,聽educators, administrators, and families.聽Principals report聽an overwhelming increase in demand for mental health聽supports聽鈥斅爓ith聽no additional resources available to respond to these needs聽鈥斅燼nd聽those who are veterans in education聽say they have never聽experienced such negative impacts聽by the education system on school staff and families in the entirety of their careers.

鈥淭his has taken toll on the staff who have worked well beyond their regular responsibilities as educators to try to help in these capacities. There is a toll that is beyond professional and that transcends emotional. It has been hard.鈥�

Educators聽鈥渢aking the聽hits鈥澛爁rom government and parents

The rapid pace of change and the lack of time for preparation is taking a toll on school and board staff.聽聽Similarly, with little notice, parents are trying to balance the learning needs of their children and their family’s need for employment. Principals are quick to commend teachers, many of whom are going above and beyond to ensure that student learning continues in face of these obstacles, but add that there is concern for teacher well-being, as they often 鈥�take the hit from the Government end of things not being considered as important at times and then again from the parents and the greater community when things are not going well鈥�.

Information about changes to education delivery and safety protocols is often delivered to schools and boards at the same time it is released to the public. As a result, principals say that responding to pushback and frustration from parents has been particularly challenging during what is already a difficult time.

Inequitable impact

The pandemic continues to exacerbate inequities between families of different socioeconomic statuses.聽Schools in low-income areas聽are聽struggling to secure basic needs for their聽community such as food and warm clothing,聽and access to access to appropriate technology and tech supports聽continues to pose聽challenges, almost 2 years after the start of the pandemic.聽These inequities will be further exacerbated by new school closings.

草莓社区 recommends a set of S.M.A.R.T. goals for government

At a press conference on Monday, January 3, the Premier and other members of government聽could not provide聽details as to any plans聽to ensure schools will be ready to re-open for in-person learning on January 17.

To help focus the province鈥檚 work over the next 2 weeks, 草莓社区 recommends the province develop and implement a set of SMART (specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, time-based) goals, including:

1. 搁别蝉耻尘别听in schools and child care centres, and provide regular reports to the public.
2. Add聽COVID-19 vaccinations to the list of .
3. Provide sufficient N95 masks to school boards and child care centres by January 14 so that they are available for all students and staff at no cost.
4. Conduct an audit of classroom HEPA air filtration units, publicly report on results, and provide sufficient units for every classroom.
5. By January 10, establish and promote vaccination centres in schools and/or child care centres to give education staff priority access to boosters, and to encourage families to vaccinate 5- to 11-year-olds. Establish a significantly higher than the current 43% of 5- to 11-year-olds and report regularly on progress.
6. Acquire sufficient Rapid Antigen Tests and deliver them to school boards and child care centres by January 14, so that students, staff, and families can test regularly and at no cost. Re-instate schools鈥� access to PCR tests.
7. Provide school boards with the remainder of the funding聽 to fund teachers, early childhood educators, educational assistants, custodians, school-based administrative support, principals, and vice-principals to facilitate smaller cohorts, physical distancing, and the delivery of remote learning.
8. Convene a COVID Education Advisory Task Force with representatives from health and education to provide advice, input, and expertise on next steps for Ontario鈥檚 students, educators, and school boards.

If implemented, these goals will provide greater certainty for school and school board staff, students, and families. They will also help to ensure that when schools re-open, that they can stay open.