No more masks at schools starting this Monday in Mississauga, Brampton, and other Ontario cities

Masks will no longer be a requirement when schools reopen after March Break on Monday, March 21.

Most school boards in the province plan to abide by the Ontario government’s lifting of the mask mandate in schools and other public places effective March 21.

Students, teachers and other staffers can still voluntarily wear masks inside schools after the mandate has been lifted.

“We ask that you please respect these choices,” said Peel’s public school board in a recent statement.

Not all school boards are on the same page, however. The provincial government met with some resistance with respect to its allowing the masks to come off in schools, especially the first day after March Break.

Some groups representing teachers, vice-principals and principals are pushing Premier Doug Ford’s government to keep the mask mandate in place at schools either for a few weeks longer or until the end of the school year.

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On March 10, the Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board approved a motion that attempted to keep masking in schools in place until April 15, despite the Province’s order to drop the mandate on March 21. A new motion passed during a lengthy special board meeting on March 15, calling for masks to remain for two extra weeks until April 1.

Additionally, both the Catholic and public school boards in Toronto are asking for the mandate to remain in schools for an extended period.

With files from Declan Finucane