TORONTO – The question that parents of school-age children are asking these days is only one: Is there any chance of kids returning to school before the end of June?
For families in Greater Toronto or Hamilton, the answer is probably no. But for other communities where the number of Covid-19 infections is low, experts believe there is a chance that students may return to presence next month.
And that little glimmer of hope comes as a growing number of children’s experts – including Sick Kids Hospital – are putting pressure on the government to reopen schools. “I think it is important to remember that while Covid infections have reached very high peaks in GTA, in other parts of the province this has not been the case – said Colin Furness, professor at the Faculty of Information of the University of Toronto – in a month there will be many millions more people vaccinated, there will be many other parts of the province where infections in the community will decrease. I would like to keep this hope alive at least for some parents in various places of the province”.
Also pressing is the Canadian Pediatric Society, which on Friday published an open letter to the premier in which they say Ford cannot “underestimate the extent of the mental health crisis faced by children and young people”: the association also urges the reopening of all outdoor recreation spaces for children and that the province “prepares a plan to bring students back to school safely before the end of the 2020-21 school year.”
A coalition of children’s hospitals – including Sick Kids and Holland Bloorview – has also issued a statement calling for the school year to be saved, warning that if children do not return to class before the end of June, the damage will be “severe.”
And that’s not all. Another group of pediatric experts and other Kingston-based health researchers – where Covid cases are low – are pushing for targeted school reopenings where local public health units believe it is safe. The Coalition for Kids also published an open letter with the support of 700 experts, Kingston families and Children’s Mental Health Ontario. Their previous petition has garnered more than 11,300 signatures.
Furness said that for classes to resume in person, community broadcasting should be low: “February levels would be ok, although I’d like to see vaccinated teachers with at least one dose and a detailed plan for regular Covid testing in schools,” he said.
Kingston experts say they see the toll that the pandemic and social isolation of not being in school charge families and especially vulnerable young people. “We believe that schools should be the last to close and the first to open – they wrote – we know that schools play a key role in identifying children who need support and directing them towards sometimes life-saving help. Some restrictions imposed by the province – such as the general closure of schools – in regions with a low prevalence of infection cause significant harm to children and young people.”
Dr. Christopher Booth, professor of Oncology and Public Health Sciences at Queen’s University as well as father of four children, is part of the Kingston Coalition. “What we are asking for is that the decision be made on a regional basis by local health officials who can understand better local epidemiology, transmission patterns and contact tracking capability. We believe this is a better approach than a general decision made by the provincial government for all Ontario schools.”
