As COVID continues to spread, schools are being impacted, but to what extent remains unclear. Still, some school boards, including Toronto’s public board, recently updated its notification process to provide more information about cases.
After two years, Mississauga high school teacher Laura Kirby-McIntosh was “really excited” to return to the classroom last week for the first time since the start of theShe — and her husband Bruce McIntosh, who’s on dialysis — tested positive for COVID last weekend.
“Whatever you hear is happening in your community, is happening in your community school. So if you live in a community where numbers are rising, chances are the students and staff also see numbers rising.” Ontarioby Ontario’s science table estimated levels of infection are almost equalling the Omicron peak of early January, a much higher trajectory than anticipated.
On Monday, the Toronto District School Board announced COVID notification letters will be shared with the school community and include affected classes in the school — before that, just affected classrooms were told. According to the board, the updated protocol provides a more comprehensive picture and helps streamline the process, particularly in high schools where students attend various classes.
At the Toronto Catholic District School Board absentee teacher rates have remained stable during the pandemic — the challenge has been filling absences. For instance, between March 18 to 29, 2019, elementary and secondary schools had an average absence rate among teachers of about 11 per cent. Of those vacancies, the average unfilled rate for teaching positions was 31 per cent.
In early March, Ontario’s chief medical officer of health, Dr. Kieran Moore, said the province’s plan to remove mask mandates — masks are now optional — was “even more cautious than most provinces … It fits along with our phased and staged approach in Ontario that follows evidence.”