The Toronto District School Board will hold a special meeting tonight to review its COVID-19 policies and procedures amid some confusion around who has the final say when it comes to masking in the classroom.
The Ontario government has announced that the mask mandate will no longer be in effect for most settings, including schools, as of March 21.
On Thursday morning at Queen’s Park Education Minister Stephen Lecce was pressed on whether local school boards and public health units could choose to continue to mandate masks on their own but seemed to suggest that the final decision will rest with Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Kieran Moore.
“The province has after two years of great difficultly for our children taken a cautious approach to move forward and we are doing that with the full support of the chief medical officer of health, who has done his due diligence and consulted widely with medical officers of health,” Lecce said at Queen’s Park. “If a local community wants to do that they should continue the dialogue with him.”
But Lecce defended the decision while speaking with reporters, noting that we are now “at a point where we can move forward with caution” thanks to high vaccination rates and investments that have been made in air filtration in schools.
Canada Latest News, Canada Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Lecce defends end date for Ontario school mask mandate amid calls for more timeOntario's education minister is defending the province's plan to end mask rules along with other COVID-19 measures in schools on March 21 despite concerns from educators and health experts about the timeline.
Read more »
Lecce defends ending Ontario’s mask mandate in schools amid calls for more timeStephen Lecce says Ontario is following a handful of other jurisdictions that have already lifted mask mandates in schools
Read more »
Lecce defends ending Ontario’s mask mandate in schools amid calls for more timeStephen Lecce says Ontario is following a handful of other jurisdictions that have already lifted mask mandates in schools
Read more »
COVID-19: B.C. dropping mask mandate Friday for indoor public spaces, vaccine card in April | Globalnews.caBREAKING: B.C. public health officials announced Thursday it will be removing an order requiring masks in all indoor public spaces as of 12:01 a.m. Friday.
Read more »
As Ontario looks to lift mask mandate, head of Canada’s largest pediatric hospital advises caution in schoolsRonald Cohn, the president and chief executive officer of Toronto’s Hospital for Sick Children, has advised Ontario to move more slowly in removing masks from schools
Read more »
Toronto should drop mask mandate when province does, says city’s top doctorDr. Eileen de Villa, the city’s medical officer of health, is recommending that Toronto’s own mask bylaw expire as soon as changes are made to provincial regulations.
Read more »