Teachers in Mississauga, Brampton want COVID masks to remain in the classroom
Published March 9, 2022 at 10:47 pm
Public elementary school educators in Mississauga and Brampton are appealing to Premier Doug Ford in an effort to keep COVID masks in the classroom.
In a statement endorsed by the Peel branch of the Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario (ETFO), Ford is told that lifting the mask mandate on March 21 is unhealthy and premature.
“Lifting the mask mandate too soon may result in further disruption to in-person learning and negative impacts on the health and safety of EFTO members, students and their families, Ontarians deserve stability and safety, not more chaos,” said ETFO President Karen Brown in the released statement.
ETFO points to the recent advice of Ontario’s Children’s Health Coalition calling for masking to be maintained in indoor school settings to protect children and their families.
Earlier today (March 9) the Ontario government announced it would allow students and school staff to remove their masks as of March 21, citing declining COVID hospitalizations and cases and the high levels of vaccinations in the province.
While that update has come as welcome news to some, others are against the plan.
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An organization calling itself the Peel Schools COVID Tracker has created a petition calling on Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr Kieran Moore, Peel Region’s Medical Officer of Health Dr Lawrence Loh, and both of Peel’s school boards to commit to keeping mask mandates at least until the end of the current school year.
ETFO, meanwhile, has asked Queen’s Park to revisit the decision of unmasking in two weeks, after the March Break.
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