(If you have a story you'd like to share email me at teachhard@gmail.com and I may copy and paste it into the blog. Give your permission to me. I will protect your identity and keep it anonymous as much as I can. Email systems have service providers who "monitor" email activity so you don't have total privacy.)
Do teachers mark assignments and tests using a 75% class average policy? A teacher told me that he was told that his class marks should average out to 75%. Too many teachers used to give away 80, 85, 90% so they looked like the greatest teacher in the world. But the marks were false. Somebody has to take a 75, a 70, or a 60 or a 55 but no one wants them. Parents, ask for an audit of your child's class marks to see if they average out to 75. Is this fair or honest? The principal tells the teacher before the marking what the class average should be?
STAY SAFE. WEAR A MASK. AVOID BEING CLOSE TO OTHERS. CLEAN YOUR HANDS EVERY HOUR.
REDUCE CLASS SIZES? OK, BUT HOW DO YOU DOUBLE THE NUMBER OF SCHOOLS IN A FEW WEEKS? HARDLY REALISTIC. REMOTE LEARNING IS SAFER. IF WE JUST GET THROUGH THIS SCHOOL YEAR THINGS WILL SETTLE DOWN, I BELIEVE.
New quarantine home study elementary grade math resources available below as of August 13, 2020.
Link for resources:
******************************************************************
https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2020/08/13/coronavirus-updates-covid-19-canada-toronto-gta-ontario-august-13-2020.html
Today’s coronavirus
news: Ontario pledges $50M for improved ventilation in schools; Ontario’s top
doctor warns residents not to get casual with COVID-19 rules
By Star staff
Thu., Aug. 13, 2020timer31 min. read
KEY FACTS
10:13 a.m. Ontario
is reporting 78 cases of COVID-19
7:43 a.m. The TDSB
is holding a webinar Thursday to discuss the safe re-opening of schools in
September
7 a.m. Premier
Doug Ford will meet with local leaders in Windsor-Essex today
The latest coronavirus news from Canada and around the world
Thursday. This file will be updated throughout the day. Web links to longer
stories if available.
4 p.m. The Ontario government has announced new funding for
schools to cover their COVID costs, including $50 million for ventilation
systems, $18 million in supports for online learning and is allowing boards to
dip further into their reserves to hire extra staff.
Boards will be allowed to access about two per cent of their
reserves, freeing up about $500 million, with the government filling in the
gaps for the handful of boards that no longer have any reserves.
In a news conference at Queen’s Park, Stephen Lecce,
Ontario’s minister of education, is expected to provide an update on the
province’s plan for the 2020–21 school year. The minister is joined by Dr.
David Williams, Ontario’s chief medical officer of health. The Ontario
government has faced growing concerns over its current plan for students’
return to classrooms amid the COVID-19 (coronavirus disease) pandemic.
Read the full story from the Star’s Kristin Rushowy: Ontario
government announces extra funding for schools’ COVID costs
3:45 p.m. In a news conference at Queen’s Park, Stephen
Lecce, Ontario’s minister of education, is expected to provide an update on the
province’s plan for the 2020–21 school year. A livestream of the news
conference is available on thestar.com.
3:30 p.m. Quebec is reporting 104 new cases of COVID-19 and
six more deaths attributed to the novel coronavirus.
The province said today four of the new deaths occurred
between Aug. 6-11, one took place before Aug. 6, and one is from an unknown
date.
Quebec has now reported 5,715 deaths since the pandemic
began and 60,917 total cases.
Public health officials say the number of hospitalizations
dropped by two in the past 24 hours for a total of 149.
Twenty-three people hospitalized are in intensive care, an
increase of three from the previous day.
The province says 15,259 COVID-19 tests were carried out on
Aug. 11, the last day for which testing data is available.
3:30 p.m. The New Brunswick government says all students
returning to public school this September will be required to bring a face mask
to school to prevent the spread of COVID-19, but masks will not be required
inside the classroom.
The new rules are spelled out in a 16-page guide that says
singing, the playing of wind instruments and large assemblies will not be
allowed.
Education Minister Dominic Cardy says students in Grades 6
to 12 will be required to wear face masks on the school bus and in common
areas, such as washrooms and in the hallways.
However, the use of face masks in common areas will be
optional for students in kindergarten to Grade 5.
The guide also calls for reduced group sizes, enhanced
cleaning, staggered meal times, hand-sanitation stations, classroom bubbles for
students in kindergarten to Grade 8 and physical distancing requirements for
those who take the bus to school.
As well, the province will restrict access to schools by
limiting the travel of personnel between schools and requiring parents to stay
outside the school unless they have an appointment or are picking up a sick
child.
As for high school students, the guide says they may be
"learning in a blended environment," which means attending school
every other day at a minimum.
"We know students, families and educators still had
many questions on what to expect when they go back into the classroom,"
Cardy said in a statement.
"A critical part of reopening schools while we live
through this pandemic is protecting the health and safety of staff and
students. However, our mandate continues to be ensuring that students have
access to quality, inclusive education that positions them for long-term
success."
3:15 p.m. With the deadline looming to register kids to
return to school — or opt for remote learning — parents across the GTA say they
are being forced to make critical decisions about their children’s educational
future without sufficient information around class sizes, safety protocols, and
what online learning will actually look like.
For the public school boards in Toronto, Peel and Halton,
the deadline to register a decision is next Monday, while York Region District
School Board’s deadline is this Friday. Parents with children in the Durham
District School Board submitted their decisions earlier this week.
But the process, particularly for parents in the Toronto
District School Board, has been fraught with chaos, confusion and mounting
anger at how the registration is being rolled out.
With the Ford government’s plan to reopen schools in
September, but doing little to limit class sizes, school boards across the
province have been faced with the difficult task of giving parents direction
and options without all the details at hand.
“We are worried sick about what we are going to do,” said
Karen Leiva, whose son is supposed to go into senior kindergarten in September,
but her husband is a transplant recipient and at high-risk for COVID-19. “He
can’t go back to a regular class, it’s too much risk. And at the moment, they
are asking us to make decisions based on little to no information.
Read the full story by the Star’s Noor Javed: ‘Parents are
so stressed out.’ Confusion reigns as parents asked to make quick
back-to-school decisions
2:50 p.m. New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio held firm to
plans to reopen the nation’s largest public school system within a month,
despite pleas from teachers and principals to delay the return of students to
classrooms.
The city is aiming for a hybrid reopening Sept. 10, with
most of the 1.1 million students spending two or three days a week in physical
classrooms and learning remotely the rest of the time. Parents were given the
option of requesting full-time remote learning for their children.
The Democratic mayor conceded there were challenges with the
plan as the city recovers from a pandemic. But he says the city has managed to
lower the rate of positive cases to around 1%.
The union representing school administrators sent a letter
to de Blasio and Chancellor Richard Carranza on Wednesday, saying school
leaders still had questions about various issues, including staffing, personal
protective equipment and ventilation system repairs.
2:50 p.m. A potential COVID-19 vaccine developed by Oxford
University will be produced in Mexico if its advanced trials are successful and
it receives regulatory approval, the government said Thursday.
President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said the agreement
with pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca, which also provides for production in
Argentina, should result in a vaccine that the government would provide free
starting in the first quarter of 2021.
Production of the vaccine in Mexico and Argentina would
allow for distribution throughout Latin America, except for Brazil, which had
already reached its own agreement with the drug maker.
Sylvia Varela, AstraZeneca’s president in Mexico said the
cost of a dose would be around $4, but López Obrador said the government would
cover that expense.
Foreign Affairs Secretary Marcelo Ebrard said the foundation
of Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim would effectively guarantee production
starts on time. He said results from the Phase III clinical trials are expected
in November.
2:50 p.m. Spain’s daily number of new coronavirus cases
reached nearly 3,000 Thursday, up significantly from 1,690 the previous day.
That’s the highest daily number of new infections since
April, as countries around Europe are concerned about a second wave of the coronavirus.
Emergency health response chief Fernando Simón says part of
the increase was due to the Madrid region reporting the numbers for two days,
after missing the deadline Wednesday.
Cases in Spain have been steadily increasing since the
country ended a more than three-month lockdown on June 21. Simons says there is
no pressure on the health system, with coronavirus patients occupying only 3%
of hospital beds.
Spain is conducting around 340,000 nasal swab tests a week,
he says. More than 50% of cases are asymptomatic, and the average age of
infected people is 42 for women and 39 for men.
The Health Ministry says Spain has officially recorded more
than 337,00 total infections and more than 28,000 deaths.
2:16 p.m. Students heading back to school in Manitoba can
expect masks on buses, staggered recess times and sanitizing stations.
The province has released protocols for parents and teachers
about what’s required ahead of schools opening their doors to students on Sept.
8.
Manitoba’s chief public health officer, Dr. Brent Roussin,
says masks will not be mandatory but are strongly recommended for students in
Grades 5 to 12.
Masks will be required, however, on buses and parents are
being encouraged to drive their kids to schools as much as possible.
Parents are also being asked to screen children for symptoms
every morning and keep them home if they aren’t feeling well.
The province will be providing masks as well as other
personal protective equipment to school divisions.
2 p.m. Ontario’s top doctor is warning that some people are
getting “casual” with pandemic public health rules, and that contributed to an
outbreak at a Muskoka resort.
Dr. David Williams, the province’s chief medical officer of
health, says a group of out-of-town residents who attended the resort on the
August long weekend ignored physical distancing and social bubble rules.
The local public health unit confirms a group of 30 people
attended the Deerhurst Resort that weekend, and 11 of them have subsequently
tested positive for COVID-19
The Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit says none of the
people had symptoms while they were on the trip, but developed them later.
Williams warned that the pandemic is not over and people
across the province must continue to be vigilant.
He says in these instances, local businesses must be closed
in until local public health units can investigate.
12:58 p.m. World Health Organization says the vaccine
approved by Russia this week is not among the nine that it considers in the
advanced stages of testing.
WHO and partners have included nine experimental COVID-19
vaccines within an investment mechanism it is encouraging countries to join,
known as the Covax facility. The initiative allows countries to invest in
several vaccines to obtain early access, while theoretically providing funding
for developing countries.
“We don’t have sufficient information at this point to make
a judgment” on the Russia vaccine, said Dr. Bruce Aylward, a senior adviser to
WHO’s director-general. “We’re currently in conversation with Russia to get
additional information to understand the status of that product, the trials
that have been undertaken and then what the next steps might be.”
This week, President Vladimir Putin announced Russia had
approved a coronavirus vaccine that has yet to complete advanced trials in
people and claimed, without evidence, the immunization protects people for up
to two years.
12:18 p.m. A Costa Rican man in federal immigration custody
has become the second detainee in Georgia to die from COVID-19 complications.
Officials say 70-year-old Jose Guillen-Vega died on Monday
after being hospitalized since Aug. 1. Guillen-Vega was held at the Stewart
Detention Center in Lumpkin. He’s the fifth person to die while in an ICE
detention facility nationwide.
The detention centre has reported more than 150 coronavirus
cases. Guillen-Vega had diabetes and hypertension.
Advocates have been asking the agency to release at-risk
detainees during the pandemic.
12:18 p.m. Greece’s foreign minister says his country will
allow tourists from Israel to enter.
Nikos Dendias announced during a visit to Israel that 600
Israeli tourists will be allowed into four Greek destinations per week.
It wasn’t immediately clear under what conditions the
tourists will be allowed in and whether they must quarantine upon arrival.
Dendias met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
and Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi. Israel’s Foreign Ministry says there was
no decision regarding Greek tourists to Israel.
Israel is challenged by high daily coronavirus infections,
adjusted for population. However, the country is taking steps to open travel
for its citizens.
12:18 p.m. A court in Austria has fined a woman 10,800 euros
($12,810) for leaving her quarantine while infected with the coronavirus.
The regional court in Tyrol found the 54-year-old German
woman had breached the order to stay home three times.
Police officers who checked on the woman found her shopping
in a supermarket, strolling in a park and visiting a hospital to treat an
injured hand.
The defendant can appeal the ruling.
12:13 p.m. Four Toronto post-secondary institutions have
decided not to hold in-person convocation ceremonies this fall due to the
COVID-19 pandemic.
York University says it made the “difficult decision”
alongside Ryerson University, the University of Toronto and Seneca College.
In a statement, York’s president and vice-chancellor says
the school will hold a virtual ceremony.
Rhonda Lenton says students will receive a package that
includes their diploma, cap and tassel, and other celebratory items.
She says the school will hold an in-person ceremony for all
graduates affected by the pandemic “when it is once again safe and permitted to
do so.”
Lenton says the other institutions will have their own
approach to marking the milestone.
11:59 a.m. Not two months after battling back the
coronavirus, Spain’s hospitals are beginning to see patients struggling to
breathe returning to their wards.
The deployment of a military emergency brigade to set up a
field hospital in Zaragoza this week is a grim reminder that Spain is far from
claiming victory over the coronavirus that devastated the European country in
March and April.
Authorities said the field hospital is a precaution, but no
one has forgotten scenes of hospitals filled to capacity and the daily death
toll reaching over 900 fatalities a few months ago.
While an enhanced testing effort is revealing that a
majority of the infected are asymptomatic and younger, making them less likely
to need medical treatment, concern is increasing as hospitals begin to see more
patients.
Experts are searching for reasons why Spain is struggling
more than its neighbours after western Europe had won a degree of control over
the pandemic.
11:59 a.m. The first call in early April was from the
testing centre, informing the nurse she was positive for COVID-19 and should
quarantine for two weeks.
The second call, less than 20 minutes later, was from her
employer, as the hospital informed her she could return to her job within two
days.
“I slept 20 hours a day,” said the nurse, who works at a
hospital in New Jersey’s Hackensack Meridian Health system and spoke on the
condition of anonymity because she is fearful of retaliation by her employer.
Though she didn’t have a fever, “I was throwing up. I was coughing. I had all
the G.I. symptoms you can get,” referring to gastrointestinal COVID-19 symptoms
like diarrhea and nausea.
“You’re telling me, because I don’t have a fever, that you
think it’s safe for me to go take care of patients?” the nurse said. “And they
told me yes.”
Guidance from public health experts has evolved as they have
learned more about the coronavirus, but one message has remained consistent: If
you feel sick, stay home.
Yet hospitals, clinics and other health care facilities have
flouted that simple guidance, pressuring workers who contract COVID-19 to
return to work sooner than public health standards suggest it’s safe for them,
their colleagues or their patients. Some employers have failed to provide
adequate paid leave, if any at all, so employees felt they had to return to
work — even with coughs and possibly infectious — rather than forfeit the
paycheck they need to feed their families.
11:48 a.m. The federal government is offering $31 million to
help communities find ways to adapt to the realities of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Infrastructure Minister Catherine McKenna says the money
could be used for everything from making it easier to physically distance on
playgrounds to building apps so people can access government services from a
distance.
The new program, the Canada Healthy Communities Initiative,
is aimed at non-governmental organizations that will work with municipalities
and other groups to identify projects over the next two years.
The government says it is taking the $31 million from $170
million left in the Smart Cities Challenge program.
That program has been used to encourage cities to find new
ways to use data and technology to help residents.
Information on how groups can apply to the new program will
be announced soon.
(Updated) 11:30 a.m. WE Charity is scaling back its
operations, making dozens of layoffs in Canada and the United Kingdom and
looking to sell some of its real estate holdings in Toronto.
The charity has been embroiled in a political controversy
since the Trudeau government chose it to run a now-abandoned youth volunteer
program.
WE Charity says its financial position has been greatly
affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and “recent events,” prompting a need to
shift programming and reduce staff.
At its global headquarters in Toronto, 16 full-time
employees will be laid off and another 51 employees working on fixed-term
contracts with the charity won’t have their contracts renewed when they expire
at the end of the month.
WE Charity’s U.K. operations will be centralized in Canada,
which means 19 full-time and contract employees in London will be laid off.
In addition, a number of buildings on a block near Moss Park
in Toronto acquired by the charity as part of a 25th anniversary plan to create
a youth campus will be assessed by the organization to determine which ones
could be sold.
11:24 a.m. More than 12 million eggs will be redistributed
via an emergency federal program designed to help farmers faced with too much
food and nowhere to sell it due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Agriculture Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau announced Thursday
that the government has signed eight agreements worth nearly $50 million to
help align the needs of food banks and other community groups with what farmers
and producers can supply.
“This is a win-win,” she said in a statement.
“Not only are we helping producers who cannot sell their
goods to restaurants, but we are also aiding Canadians that have had to seek
help from food banks.”
The organizations receiving the money include Food Banks
Canada, Second Harvest and the Quebec group La Tablee des Chefs.
Altogether, approximately 12 million kilograms of everything
from fish to fowl will be redistributed under the $50-million food surplus
program announced by the Liberals earlier this year.
11:24 a.m. Health officials in New Brunswick are reporting
two new cases of COVID-19.
The Public Health Department said today the new cases
involve temporary foreign workers who have been in self-isolation since they
arrived in Moncton.
One is between 30 and 39 years old, and the other is between
50 and 59 years old.
Meanwhile, authorities said today the COVID-19 case reported
Wednesday in the Fredericton area is now recovered.
New Brunswick has reported a total of 180 cases of COVID-19,
169 of which are considered recovered.
The virus has claimed two lives in the province and there
are nine active cases of COVID-19.
11 a.m. Ontario’s Minister of Education Stephen Lecce and
Dr. David Williams, Chief Medical Officer of Health, will make an education
announcement at 3:45 p.m. Thursday.
10:28 a.m. Children can safely wear masks starting at age 2
— and they should be mandatory in schools to help prevent the spread of
COVID-19, says the American Academy of Pediatrics.
“During the COVID-19 pandemic, plans for the safe return of
children to school, child care, and other group settings must include the
universal use of cloth face coverings by children two years of age and older
and the adults with whom they interact,” says the guidance from the prestigious
academy, issued Thursday.
It comes as teacher unions across Ontario continue to push
for changes so that all students — not just those from Grades 4 to 12 — wear
masks when they return to class this fall.
The province has urged younger children, from junior
kindergarten to Grade 3, to wear masks.
Ontario is the only jurisdiction to require masks all day
when school returns, though a handful of other provinces have said teens need
to wear them in the hallways, or on buses.
Read the full story from the Star’s Kristin Rushowy: Make
masks mandatory for all students, urges American Academy of Pediatrics
(Updated) 10:13 a.m. Ontario is reporting 78 new cases of
COVID-19 today and no new deaths from the novel coronavirus, but Health
Minister Christine Elliott says today’s numbers do not include data from
Toronto Public Health.
Elliott also says hospitalizations due to the virus declined
over the previous 24 hours, while the number of patients in intensive care and
on ventilators remained stable.
The province also announced this morning that 99 more cases
were marked as resolved.
Ontario’s total case count is now 40,367, with 36,689 marked
as resolved and 2,787 deaths.
The province says it processed 29,626 tests over the last 24
hours.
10 a.m. Ontario’s southern urban centres were the first and
hardest hit by the COVID-19 pandemic, while some rural regions managed to stave
off the virus for nearly 10 weeks before cases were reported, data collected by
the Star shows.
While the first case in the province — a man in Toronto —
was recorded on Jan. 23, it took six weeks before regions outside of Toronto
reported cases of the coronavirus. For one more week, the virus would stay
confined to southern Ontario. Then by week 10, it had spread across the
province with the GTA as the epicentre.
Health units for Porcupine, Thunder Bay and Algoma in
Ontario’s north of the province were free of confirmed cases until early March,
with Thunder Bay not reporting a case until week 10 of the pandemic. In the
south of the province, the health units of Haldimand-Norfolk, Lambton and
Southwestern were also free of reported cases. Week 10 directly followed
Ontario’s March Break — March 16 to 20 — a time when it was feared returning
vacationers would trigger a spike.
Read the full story from the Star’s Jenna Moon: COVID-19 hit
Ontario’s cities first and hardest. Here’s how it spread to rural areas — and
why they’re more vulnerable now than ever
9:55 a.m. East Carolina University police say about 20
parties, including one with nearly 400 people in attendance, were shut down
during the school’s opening weekend.
Lt. Chris Sutton of the East Carolina University Police
Department told McClatchy News the parties were held last week and over the
weekend at the school.
Nearly 5,500 students began moving into their dorm rooms at
the university last Wednesday. Sutton says most of the parties that campus
authorities have shut down since then were “manageable,” with between 25 and 50
people.
Sutton says the party with 400 people was held a few blocks
from the school in an area dominated by off-campus student housing. They
dispersed once authorities arrived.
9:55 a.m. Rome prosecutors have formally told Premier
Giuseppe Conte and other ministers they have opened an investigation into the
government’s coronavirus response.
A statement Thursday from Conte’s office notes such
investigations are required when complaints are received. However, prosecutors
have already informed the government that it considers the claims “unfounded
and worthy of being shelved.”
Conte and the ministers say they were available to provide
any information “in a spirit of maximum collaboration.”
Italy was the first country in Europe to become the
epicenter of COVID-19 and has a confirmed death toll of more than 35,000, now
sixth highest in the world.
Conte and the health and interior ministers already had been
questioned by Bergamo prosecutors investigating a delay in locking down two key
towns in hard-hit Lombardy. The Bergamo prosecutors have made clear they
interviewed government authorities as informed witnesses, not suspects.
9:55 a.m. An official with the Swedish Transport
Administration urged people in Sweden to use public transport only if necessary
this fall.
Roberto Maiorana says his agency is experiencing increased
traffic.
“Travel only if you have to, and if you have to, avoid the
rush hour. Bicycle or walk if you can,” he says. “Do not replace public
transport with travel by car unnecessarily, as it might cause traffic jams.”
In Sweden, a total of 5,776 deaths — two more from Wednesday
— have been confirmed.
Swedish chief epidemiologist, Anders Tegnell whose country
has opted for a much-debated coronavirus approach of keeping large parts of the
society open, says there’s a trend of only a “few deaths per day.”
In neighbouring Finland, the government recommended face
masks be used on public transportation and in public places where it’s
difficult to keep distance from other people. Masks are not mandatory in
Sweden.
9:55 a.m. The United Nations estimates that 43% of schools
around the world don’t have access to water and soap for basic hand-washing.
The new report comes as countries wrestle with when and how
to safely open schools amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
The report by the World Health Organization and UNICEF says
more than one-third of the 818 million children around the globe who lacked
basic hand-washing facilities at their schools last year are in sub-Saharan
Africa.
The report says authorities must balance health concerns
with economic and social ones in deciding on opening schools, and it notes the
negative effects that long closures have on children.
The report also says one in three schools around the world
have limited or no drinking water service.
9:55 a.m. A Greek prosecutor has ordered an investigation
into a string of infections at a retirement home in northern Greece, where 33
of the 150 residents and three staff members have tested positive for COVID-19.
Authorities say 20 people from the home at Asvestochori, a
village outside the northern city of Thessaloniki, were taken to a hospital
Wednesday with mild symptoms. The disease is believed to have been spread by a
staff member who got it from a relative who had visited a popular holiday
resort.
The investigation was ordered Thursday.
Greece has seen a rise in COVID-19 infections, which reached
262 on Wednesday, the highest since the virus outbreak.
The country of 11 million has registered about 6,200
confirmed cases, and 216 deaths.
9:55 a.m. The Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan has imposed its
first nationwide lockdown due to a virus infection in a returning traveller who
had been released from quarantine.
The government issued a stay-at-home order for its
approximately 750,000 people, and all schools, offices and commercial
establishments were closed.
The government’s statement says the lockdown would be
enforced from five to 21 days “to identify and isolate all positive cases,
immediately breaking the chain of transmission.”
The 27-year-old Bhutanese woman returning from Kuwait tested
negative in mandatory quarantine for arriving travellers. But between her
discharge from quarantine and her positive test result Monday, she is believed
to have travelled extensively in Bhutan.
The tourism-dependent country closed its borders to foreign
travellers in March after an American tourist was hospitalized with COVID-19.
Bhutan’s 113 reported infections were all quarantined travellers, except for
one with conflicting test results.
9:55 a.m. The coronavirus outbreak centred in Australia’s
second-largest city showed a decline in new infections Thursday, though the state’s
leader urged continued vigilance.
Victoria state Premier Daniel Andrews says there were 278
new infections and eight new deaths, down from around 700 daily at the peak of
the outbreak.
Daniels says the lower numbers indicate the lockdown
restrictions in Melbourne are working but urged people to stay the course.
“We would just caution against any Victorian thinking that
we aren’t in the midst of a real marathon,” Daniels said.
Meanwhile, neighbouring New South Wales state, which
includes Australia’s largest city Sydney, recorded 12 new cases and one death.
9:55 a.m. The Seattle school board has voted unanimously to
begin the academic year with only remote teaching.
The Seattle Times reports the state’s largest school
district approved the plan Wednesday.
The remote learning plan passed with a wide-ranging
amendment from school board members that directs the superintendent to explore
creating outdoor classes. It also reinforces teaching of Black studies and
curricula developed by Indigenous communities.
But the district’s plans are far from set
because it is still bargaining with the teachers union. Those discussions will
set the parameters for how teachers spend their time and for the support the
district will provide in an online learning environment.
9:55 a.m. New locally transmitted cases of the coronavirus
reported in China have fallen into the single digits, but Hong Kong is seeing
another rise in hospitalizations and deaths.
China’s National Health Commission says eight new cases were
registered in the last 24 hours in the northwestern region of Xinjiang, whose
main city of Urumqi has enacted lockdown measures and travel restrictions. An
additional 11 cases were brought by Chinese returning from overseas.
Hong Kong has 62 new cases, up from 33 on Wednesday, along
with an additional five deaths.
The semi-autonomous southern Chinese city has required masks
in all public settings and limited indoor dining, among other measures, to curb
a new outbreak.
9:55 a.m. South Korea has reported 56 new cases of the coronavirus
as clusters pop up in cities.
The figures announced by South Korea’s Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention on Thursday brought the caseload to 14,770 infections,
including 305 deaths. Forty-three of the new cases were from the Seoul area and
two were from Busan, the country’s second-largest city, where infections have
been reported at schools and among foreign cargo ship workers.
South Korean authorities have employed an aggressive
test-and-quarantine campaign against COVID-19, using mobile-phone location data
and credit-card records to trace contacts and smartphone tracking apps to
monitor tens of thousands quarantined at home.
Visitors at nightclubs, baseball stadiums and other
facilities deemed as “high-risk” must register with smartphone QR codes so they
can be easily located when needed.
9:46 a.m. U.S. stocks wavered Thursday after data showed
fewer Americans applied for jobless benefits, potentially signaling that the
pace of recovery in the labour market is starting to pick up.
The S&P 500 edged down 0.3 per cent a day after the
benchmark U.S. stock index climbed to a hair’s breadth from its first record
close since the coronavirus pandemic disrupted the economy. The Dow Jones
Industrial Average fell 0.4 per cent and the Nasdaq Composite Index moved
higher 0.3 per cent. Overseas, the pan-continental Stoxx Europe 600 slipped 0.6
per cent.
Initial jobless claims fell to 963,000 in the week ended
Aug. 7, ending a 20-week streak of results above 1 million. This compares with
the previous week’s 1.186 million applications for unemployment benefits,
indicating a moderate decline and coming below economists’ estimates of 1.1
million.
9:40 a.m. An Africa-wide study of antibodies to the
coronavirus has begun, while evidence from a smaller study indicates that many
more people have been infected than official numbers show, the Africa Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention said Thursday.
Experts are eager to know the real number of COVID-19 cases
in Africa, as confirmed cases and deaths have been relatively low on the
continent of 1.3 billion people. Poor data collection, however, has complicated
efforts.
But recent surveys in Mozambique found antibodies — proteins
the body makes when an infection occurs — to the virus in 5 per cent of
households in the city of Nampula and 2.5 per cent in the city of Pemba. That’s
while Mozambique has just 2,481 confirmed virus cases. Further studies are
underway in the capital, Maputo, and the city of Quelimane.
“What is important is far fewer people are coming down with
the disease,” Africa CDC director John Nkengasong told reporters. “How many
people are infected and asymptomatic on our continent? We don’t know that.”
Africa’s young population, with a median age of 19, has been
called a possible factor.
9:16 a.m. Mexico and Argentina have reached agreements to
produce the U.K. drugmaker AstraZeneca Plc’s promising COVID-19 vaccine for
Latin America, the nations’ governments said.
The countries will make 150 million to 250 million initial
doses of the potential COVID-19 vaccine designed by scientists at the
University of Oxford after the required trials, Argentine President Alberto
Fernandez and Mexican Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard said in messages on
Twitter on Wednesday night. Billionaire Carlos Slim’s foundation is helping
finance the plan, Ebrard said.
The goal is to produce the vaccine as of the first half of
next year, and there will be no profits from it during the pandemic, Fernandez
said in his statement following a meeting with representatives of AstraZeneca.
His health minister said Argentina will prioritize getting the vaccine to the
elderly, medical professionals and people with pre-existing conditions.
8:51 a.m. An additional $305 million to support Indigenous
people during the COVID-19 pandemic will top up the Indigenous Community
Support Fund first announced in late March.
Indigenous Services Canada Minister Marc Miller made the
announcement yesterday, stressing that Indigenous people are among the most
vulnerable in Canada, and during the pandemic, face unique challenges often
exacerbated by social inequalities and systemic barriers.
The fund is part of the federal government’s COVID-19
Economic Response Plan.
As with previous funding, it can be used to support elders
and vulnerable community members, to address food insecurity, for educational
and other supports for children, for mental-health assistance and for emergency
response services and preparedness measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
Further, Miller said Indigenous leaders, governments and
organizations best know the needs of their people and are best placed to
develop community-based solutions to respond to the challenges.
“It is a testament to Indigenous leadership and indeed
Indigenous Peoples that community exposure to the virus has been limited,”
Miller said.
8:09 a.m. (updated) Against the backdrop of a recession
caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and saddled with a record budget deficit,
Premier Doug Ford has resumed his campaign-style tour of the province.
“It’s bright and early, 6:30 a.m., and we’re off to Windsor,
I just can’t wait to see the people of Windsor,” Ford enthused as he motored
down Highway 401 on Thursday.
Windsor-Essex, which had been hit by coronavirus outbreaks
among migrant farm workers, was the last region in Ontario to reopen its
economy, entering Stage 3 on Wednesday, meaning restaurants and bars can offer
indoor service and gyms and playgrounds can open.
That was the same day Finance Minister Rod Phillips
delivered the sobering first quarterly financial results, confirming the
province has been plunged into an economic recession by a virus that has killed
more than 2,800 Ontarians since March.
Phillips said a deficit that had been forecast to be $20.5
billion in 2020-2021 — up from $9.2 billion last year — has jumped to $38.5
billion.
Pandemic relief efforts expected to cost $17 billion are now
projected to exceed $30 billion, including a $9.6 billion contingency fund to
cover things like schools reopening next month amid fears of a second wave of
the virus.
Read the full story from the Star’s Robert Benzie
7:47 a.m. Fans will be allowed into MotoGP races for the
first time this season, at the Misano circuit in Italy next month.
The region of Emilia Romagna has given the circuit
permission to open to a maximum of 10,000 fans a day for the doubleheader of
the San Marino and Emilia Romagna MotoGP rounds.
There will be strict measures in place to protect against
the coronavirus, and fans will not be allowed to roam around.
The circuit has a capacity of around 110,000 including more
than 40,000 in the stands and welcomed approximately 160,000 people across the
three-day weekend last year.
Organizers say in a statement: “It is a decision that makes
us emotional because it also represents a green light for the restart of world
sport finally in front of the fans.”
The first three MotoGP rounds were held without fans and no
spectators will be allowed into the upcoming doubleheader in Austria.
7:43 a.m. The TDSB is holding a webinar Thursday to discuss
the safe re-opening of schools in September beginning at 6:30 p.m. until 8:30
p.m. Families will learn more about the board’s “Safe Reopening of Schools.”
7:25 a.m. U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned
Wednesday that the COVID-19 pandemic not only threatens gains in fighting
global poverty and building peace but risks exacerbating existing conflicts and
generating new ones.
The U.N. chief told a Security Council meeting on the
challenge of sustaining peace during the pandemic that his March 23 call for an
immediate cease-fire in conflicts around the world to tackle the coronavirus
led a number of warring parties to take steps to de-escalate and stop fighting.
“Yet, regrettably, in many instances, the pandemic did not
move the parties to suspend hostilities or agree to a permanent ceasefire,”
Guterres said.
His predecessor as secretary-general, Ban Ki-moon, told the
council: “It is truly astonishing that in response to this pandemic, the world
has placed billions of people under lock-down, closed international borders,
suspended trade and migration, and temporarily shut down a whole variety of
industries — but has not managed to suspend armed conflicts.”
Ban criticized the U.N. Security Council for wasting
valuable months “in arguments over the details of the text” and not adopting a
resolution until July 1 demanding an “immediate cessation of hostilities” in
key conflicts including Syria, Yemen, Libya, South Sudan and Congo to tackle
COVID-19.
“This has weakened the message that this council needs to
send to all warring parties: now is the time to confront our common enemy,” Ban
said.
And he said delayed council action “further aggravated the
current volatile global security situations.”
7 a.m. Premier Doug Ford will meet with local leaders in
Windsor-Essex today after the region entered Stage 3 of the province’s
reopening plan on Wednesday.
Ford will spend the day in the city of Windsor and will meet
with mayors from across the region to discuss economic recovery.
The premier is also set to tour the Ford Motor Company’s
Essex Engine Plant.
A portion of the facility was retooled to produce plastic
face shields for front-line workers during the pandemic.
Ford is also expected to hold his daily COVID-19 media
briefing from Windsor alongside the province’s labour minister and associate
transportation minister.
Windsor-Essex moved to Stage 3 on Wednesday after being held
back because of COVID-19 outbreaks on local farms.
6:20 a.m. Researchers at Imperial College in London, England
estimate that 6 per cent of England’s population — or 3.4 million people — have
been infected by COVID-19, a figure far higher than previous findings.
The estimate is based on a study of 100,000 randomly
selected volunteers who used home finger-prick tests to find antibodies for the
virus that causes COVID-19.
The study, which covers infections through the end of June,
found that London had the highest infection rate at 13%. Black, Asian and other
minority ethnic groups were two to three times more likely to have had COVID-19
than white people.
The nationwide estimate is much higher than the number of
reported cases posted by Johns Hopkins University, the main reference for
monitoring the disease. As of Thursday, it listed 270,971 cases throughout
England.
5:22 a.m. New locally transmitted cases of the coronavirus
reported in China have fallen into the single digits, but Hong Kong is seeing
another rise in hospitalizations and deaths.
China’s National Health Commission said Thursday
that eight new cases were registered in the last 24 hours in the northwestern
region of Xinjiang, whose main city of Urumqi has enacted lockdown measures and
travel restrictions. An additional 11 cases were brought by Chinese returning
from overseas.
Hong Kong, meanwhile, has 62 new cases, up from 33 on
Wednesday, along with an additional five deaths.
The semi-autonomous southern Chinese city has required masks
be worn in all public settings and limited indoor dining among other measures
to curb a new outbreak.
5:00 a.m. Toronto says it’s moved more than 1,500 homeless
people into permanent housing since mid-March as it’s battled COVID-19 — a
nearly 50 per cent increase over the same period last year.
But some outreach workers say that figure doesn’t fairly
represent Toronto’s pandemic-specific response, since more than 40 per cent were
already on waitlists before the virus hit, and the number reflects the total
instead of this year’s COVID-specific increase.
While the city says it has moved 1,570 people into permanent
housing since mid-March, using rent-to-geared-income (RGI) assistance and
housing allowances, last year during the same time period it moved 1,050 people
using the same programs, according to data provided to the Star.
Read more from reporter Victoria Gibson here.
4:45 a.m. German authorities worked through the night to clear
a backlog of coronavirus tests from travellers after it emerged 900 people who
were positive for COVID-19 had yet to be informed.
Bavarian Health Minister Melanie Huml said all people with
positive results would be informed Thursday and that systems were being
improved to prevent any further delays.
Bavaria has been offering free voluntary tests at airports,
as well as specific train stations and highway rest areas, and has carried out
some 85,000 since the end of July, Huml said.
Thursday 12:57 a.m. A puzzling new outbreak of the
coronavirus in New Zealand’s largest city grew to 17 cases on Thursday, with
officials saying the number will likely increase further.
And a lockdown in Auckland designed to extinguish the
outbreak could be extended well beyond an initial three days.
It was a turnabout from Sunday, when the South Pacific
nation of 5 million marked 100 days without any cases of local transmission.
For most people, life had long returned to normal as they sat down in packed
sports stadiums and restaurants or went to school without the fear of getting
infected.
The only cases for months had been a handful of returning
travellers who have been quarantined at the border. But then earlier this week,
health workers discovered four infections in one Auckland household.
The source of the new infections continues to stump
officials. Director-General of Health Ashley Bloomfield said genome testing has
not yet matched the new cluster with any infections that have been caught at
the border, although the testing has indicated the strain of the virus may have
come from Australia or Britain.
New Zealand first eliminated community transmission of the
virus by imposing a strict lockdown in late March when only about 100 people
had tested positive for the disease.
Read more of Wednesday’s coverage here.
https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2020/08/10/sick-kids-covid-19-back-to-school-dry-run-draws-backlash-over-plan-to-use-private-schools.html?li_source=LI&li_medium=thestar_recommended_for_you
Sick Kids’ COVID-19
back-to-school dry run draws backlash over plan to use private schools
May Warren
By May Warren Staff Reporter
Mon., Aug. 10, 2020timer4 min. read
Before millions of students head back to school in a few
weeks, experts at the Hospital for Sick Children will hold a much smaller dress
rehearsal, hoping the lessons learned can help prepare for the real thing.
But the study is facing some backlash for being conducted at
private schools, with some questioning whether it can replicate reality in the
majority of classrooms across the province.
The COVID-19 Safe School Simulation will be held Aug. 19-20
in Toronto, by researchers who will examine mask use, as well as physical
distancing and hand hygiene.
“It’s really trying to get a dry run of what schools are
going to look like,” said Dr. Michelle Science, an infectious diseases
specialist and co-principal investigator of the study, which is funded entirely
by Sick Kids.
“We really recognize that everyone has a great deal of
uncertainty about the return to school and we wanted to help reduce some of
this uncertainty by generating evidence.”
The research team is particularly interested in looking at
mask use, which will be mandatory for kids in Ontario starting in Grade 4.
Researchers will film the students taking part in the study to see how they
interact, destroying the film after the study wraps up. They will also use a
harmless liquid that will only be visible under a special light to mimic how
the virus might spread on surfaces across the classroom, replicate symptom
screening, staggered schedules and physical distancing.
All participants will be tested for COVID-19 in the 24-48
hours before the simulation, and asked to quarantine after they get tested.
They’re hoping to get 240 students and 12 to 14 teachers to
participate, from junior kindergarten through high school. The simulation will
be held at The Bishop Strachan School and Upper Canada College. Branksome Hall
and The Sterling Hall School will help with recruitment.
Organizers don’t yet know the ratio of teacher to students —
it will depend on how many volunteers they get, Science said.
Class size has been a contentious issue in Ontario, with 30
students potentially in one classroom.
On Monday, the Toronto District School Board — the
province’s largest — released its back to school plans. The board is also
sending out a survey to parents this week asking if they plan to put their kids
back in school with regular class sizes, or if they would consider doing so
with smaller classes if there was provincial funding available for that.
It’s something Stephanie Davila, an elementary music teacher
with the Toronto Catholic District School Board, is concerned about. She fears
the study won’t have the kind of class sizes she will have to contend with come
September.
“The reality of my teaching is not going to be reflected and
it’s not going to be something that I’m going to look to or to reference,” said
Davila, one of dozens of people on social media who called out Sick Kids on the
study.
She’s also worried about the fact kids who need extra
support in the classroom can’t participate, and that the results won’t reflect
their needs.
Lara Donsky, a special education inclusion consultant at
TDSB, said she worries the students in the study would skew privileged, as it’s
being conducted at private schools. It is open to other students, and the
researchers are recruiting through social media, “but there’s an equity issue,”
she said.
Areas where there have been high concentrations of COVID-19,
the northwest corner in Toronto, for example, have parents and kids with
different circumstances, and it’s important that those kids are reflected in
studies that will be used to make decisions about reopening, she added.
Donsky and others on social media noted that older public schools
often have poor ventilation, some classrooms don’t even have windows that could
be opened to help get fresh air in — a critical part of reducing transmission
of COVID.
“If you want to use private schools fine, but balance it out
with the public school system,” Donsky said.
Science said while recruitment for public school kids will
be mainly over social media, she hopes parents and teachers will reach out
through the email schoolsim.study@sickkids.ca.
“We are trying to recruit broadly,” she said.
“The study is really
open to any GTA student who is enrolled in public or other independent schools
who meet the criteria, and we’re also wanting to have teachers from both
private and public schools.”
The private schools were the ones that offered the space on
such a tight timeline, she said, but public school teachers have been involved
in helping to set up the study. The team recognizes the “important differences”
between private and public schools, but this study will look more at behaviours
and not physical classrooms.
“We really needed to use space that was available to us to
help ensure that we can get the results out to the public as soon as possible,”
she said.
“We do realize that it is a short turnaround to conduct the
study and so outreach to all of the communities might be limited.”
Due to the tight timeline, the study organizers were unable
to include kids with special needs but hope this limitation can be addressed in
future studies, working with the public school system.
“It is a starting point and we really hope to build on it,”
Science added.
May Warren
May Warren is a Toronto-based breaking news reporter for the
Star. Follow her on Twitter: @maywarren11
https://www.thestar.com/politics/provincial/2020/08/13/ontario-government-announces-extra-funding-for-schools-covid-costs.html
Ontario government
announces extra funding for schools’ COVID costs
Kristin Rushowy
By Kristin Rushowy Queen's Park Bureau
Thu., Aug. 13, 2020timer1 min. read
The Ontario government has announced new funding for schools
to cover their COVID costs, including $50 million for ventilation systems, $18
million in supports for online learning and is allowing boards to dip further
into their reserves to hire extra staff.
Boards will be allowed to access about two per cent of their
reserves, freeing up about $500 million, with the government filling in the
gaps for the handful of boards that no longer have any reserves.
The province is also mandating that students who opt for
online learning this fall, and those who are in designated areas where teens
are studying part-time at home, 75 per cent of it must be live video
conferencing or “synchronous.”
The government has previously announced $309 million for
staffing and personal protective equipment, among other needs, to help boards
cope with COVID-19.
Liberal Leader Steven Del Duca, who was in Windsor on
Thursday, said Premier Doug Ford “has already told local school boards they
have to dip into their reserve funds” during the pandemic, and called on the
government to hire teachers, custodians and provide proper resources so schools
can safely reopen.
A growing number of groups, experts and teacher unions are
calling for the province to delay the start of the school year. British
Columbia recently decided to provide two days of “orientation” for teachers to
prepare for their return, delaying the start of classes.
Kristin Rushowy
Kristin Rushowy is a Toronto-based reporter covering Ontario
politics for the Star. Follow her on Twitter: @krushowy
https://www.thestar.com/podcasts/thismatters/2020/08/12/schools-are-the-best-place-for-kids-mental-health-not-so-fast.html
Schools are the best place for kids’ mental health? Not so
fast
By Star staff
Wed., Aug. 12, 2020timer1 min. read
Schools across Canada are set to reopen in September. What
that will look like and what safety procedures are in place will differ — at
times, greatly — depending on where you live. In Ontario,
masks will be enforced among students Grade 4 through 12 but class sizes
will not be reduced. British Columbia is taking a phased-in approach and other
provinces like Saskatchewan are leaving it up to individual school boards on
what their policy for masks will be.
Inevitably, in the debate over how to reopen schools, the
health and safety of students is mentioned as being the biggest priority. And
there are worries over possible COVID-19 outbreaks in
schools, similar to the U.S. and Israel, which reopened schools quickly.
But what about the mental health of students? What kind of
pressure are kids under, being indoors for hours at a time, in the middle of a
pandemic? And the belief that schools are the safest place for kids is not the
lived reality for many students who faced problems even before the pandemic.
Dr. Tyler Black, child and adolescent psychiatrist at the
University of British Columbia talks to Adrian Cheung on the mental stress of
reopening schools and why the pandemic is the moment to reshape and rethink how
education works in Canada.
Listen to this episode and more at This Matters, or subscribe at Apple
Podcasts, Spotify,
Google
Podcasts or wherever you listen to your favourite podcasts.
https://www.thestar.com/politics/provincial/2020/08/11/ontario-teachers-unions-consider-legal-challenges-over-class-sizes.html
Ontario teachers’ unions consider legal challenges over
class sizes
By Kristin Rushowy Queen's
Park Bureau
Tue., Aug. 11, 2020timer4 min. read
The unions representing Ontario’s teachers are calling on
the provincial government to change its back-to-school plans and are warning a
legal challenge is possible.
“We are consulting with legal counsel, absolutely,” said Liz
Stuart, president of the 45,000-member Ontario English Catholic Teachers’
Association, which continues to advocate for smaller class sizes and masks for
all students.
“The best thing to find out at this point is to see what we
can do in order to fight to keep our members safe.”
Sam Hammond, who heads the Elementary Teachers’ Federation
of Ontario — the country’s largest teachers’ union — said his members will use
the next couple of weeks “to try and push those issues to get the government to
step forward” and address teachers’ and parents’ concerns.
But if the government doesn’t budge, his union executive is
meeting later this week and “if they continue to have the concerns that they’ve
had since the plan was released, then certainly we’ll look at all of our
options to take a stand to get the attention of the government to make change.”
While ETFO is not officially calling for a delay to the
start of the school year, “I think the government needs to look at all the
options,” Hammond said. “If we had the luxury of another month, we’d certainly
be in a very different place.”
Local unions have talked about launching grievances or legal
challenges, and Stuart said the labour board is a possibility.
In the United States — where cases in many states have hit
record highs — one teachers’ union in Florida is seeking a court injunction to
force all classes online until COVID-19 numbers have subsided.
The American Teachers’ Federation has said it supports
strikes if local units don’t feel the reopening conditions are safe enough to
protect members.
Ontario’s back-to-school plan includes mandatory masks for
students starting in Grade 4 — the only province in Canada to require them
throughout the school day — as well as improved hand hygiene and school
cleaning and smaller classes for high school students in large, urban boards.
However, in elementary schools, classes sizes will remain
unchanged, meaning children in kindergarten and Grades 4 through 8 could be in
rooms with 30 students.
The province has said it will provide $30 million to help
shrink class sizes if classes are too large. That amount would fund roughly 300
teachers.
The Toronto public board alone has said it would need at
least 200 extra elementary teachers if class sizes were to be reduced to 15.
The province is also hiring 500 public health nurses, or
about one for every 10 schools, to help with COVID and also random testing of
high school students.
Premier Doug Ford said Tuesday that Ontario is “doing
everything we can ... we have the best plan in Canada. People from other
provinces want our plan, and we’re going to do everything we can and I’m not
going to spare a penny and I’m not going to spare anything making sure that we
have the safest classrooms in the country.”
Ontario, he added, has “the smallest classroom sizes in the
entire country, bar none. We have more protocols and guidelines than any other
jurisdiction” in Canada, and noted his government is so far spending more than
$309 million, which is more per pupil than other provinces.
But NDP Leader Andrea Horwath, who visited Kingston on
Tuesday, called the province’s announcement “a bargain basement plan that
really pinches pennies on the backs of our kids” and urged the province to hire
thousands of teachers.
Alexandra Adamo, spokesperson for Education Minister Stephen
Lecce, said the government has “engaged in discussions with multiple unions
with the singular goal of ensuring the safest and healthiest school environment
for all students and staff” and is willing to continue talks.
Hammond said smaller class sizes were a key part of
recommendations made by experts from Sick Kids, advice the government chose to
ignore. He’s advocating for elementary classes to have about 15 students, or
close to that number.
From politics to policing, hospitals to housing, we report
on the issues that affect us all. We hold the powerful accountable and help
create a Canada that works for every one of us.
He also said masks, proper ventilation in schools and busing
remain huge safety issues.
Harvey Bischof, of the Ontario Secondary School Teachers’
Federation, said his union “is consulting with counsel now and have been for
some time ... We just want to ensure that we are aware of, and maximize the use
of, any legal strategy required to keep our members safe.”
Bischof said his union hasn’t landed on what it’s strategy
will be, but added that “I’ve seen no evidence so far that this government is
listening to us and our concerns.”
Kristin
Rushowy is a Toronto-based reporter covering Ontario politics for the Star.
Follow her on Twitter: @krushowy
https://www.thestar.com/politics/provincial/2020/08/12/as-bc-delays-start-of-school-year-ontario-is-urged-to-follow-suit.html
As B.C. delays start
of school year, Ontario is urged to follow suit
By Kristin Rushowy Queen's Park Bureau
Wanyee Li Vancouver Bureau
Wed., Aug. 12, 2020timer4 min. read
JOIN THE CONVERSATION
Go slow.
The Ontario government is now facing growing calls from
teachers’ unions, advocacy groups and health experts to delay or phase-in the
start of school this fall amid concerns about the spread of COVID-19 if all two
million students return to class at once.
In British Columbia, the government has announced teachers
will now have until Sept. 10 — an extra two days — to prepare their classrooms
for students.
It’s part of what the B.C. government is calling an
“orientation week” for students and teachers, with staff members meeting on
Sept. 8 to discuss how the health guidelines will work in their school.
Experts say Ontario would be wise to follow B.C.’s lead.
Dr. Anna Banerji, a pediatrician and infectious disease
expert at the University of Toronto, thinks a delay to school reopenings “would
be a very good idea across the country.”
Even just a couple of days, as B.C. has done, would give
teachers a chance to problem-solve and look at implementing simple but
effective measures, Banerji said, such as drawing arrows on the ground to
create one-direction pathways, or rearranging larger spaces like gyms and
auditoriums to create more classrooms.
Some have called for an even longer delay to the start of
the school year, suggesting classes begin later in the fall or even in January.
Banerji says creating an orientation week, and giving teachers an extra two
days before students arrive, is a smart balance.
“We could wait until a couple years until the pandemic is
gone and we have a vaccine, but I think people are suffering and children are
suffering,” she said. “Waiting until January makes it very difficult for a lot
of families and children.”
But some education experts say a gradual return, drawn out
over days or even weeks, would be the best approach.
“It is understandable that there is an urgent quest for some
forms of normalcy, including the reopening of schools,” says a paper released
by University of Toronto education professor Carol Campbell and Ryerson
professor Beverly-Jean Daniel, Annie Kidder of People for Education, and
education researcher Ruth Baumann.
“However, these are not normal times and we cannot simply
return to the old status quo. We urge that as well as a safe return to school,
we need a gentle return to the upcoming school year. We need to go slow.”
While each board could do this differently, and “while we
all want to see children returning to attending school five days a week when it
is safe and possible to do so, there is no compelling reason for having every
student return on the very first day,” says the paper.
“Ontario schools have often done staggered re-entries in the
past” and other countries have also used it to reopen after getting past the
first wave of COVID-19, including Denmark and Germany.
The paper suggests that younger students could go in first
as older students gradually return; in high schools, Grade 9 students could
begin classes first since they missed out on orientation after schools were
shut down in March, or start with Grade 12 students to ensure they get in as
much instructional time as possible before graduation.
The province has mandated that all students wear masks, all
day, starting in Grade 4, and that high school students in larger urban boards
will be in classes of 15 and only attend part time. Concerns have been raised
about elementary class sizes, which will remain unchanged.
The government is providing boards more than $309 million on
COVID-related costs, including hiring 500 public health nurses for schools.
Premier Doug Ford said Wednesday that he’d be “flexible”
when he was asked about delaying the start of the school year.
“We have to be able to sit down and listen to everyone, and
that's what we're doing,” Ford said. “We have to be flexible when it comes to
education and protecting the kids.”
The premier also said he wants to work with teachers’
unions, to “sit down and listen,” and put aside any differences.
But critics warn that with just a couple of weeks to go
before school starts, time is running out.
“We must consider delaying the start of back to school in
order to give school boards more time and more resources to deliver a safe
return,” said Liberal Leader Steven Del Duca. “Most school boards need more
time and more provincial investment to get class sizes down.”
In British Columbia, Education Minister Rob Fleming noted
that schools are going to look different in September. “Staff, students and
parents need time to get familiar with all the new health and safety procedures
that are designed to keep them safe and confident in their school settings,”
Fleming said.
B.C.’s teachers’ union says the two-day delay is a “reasonable”
approach.
“I think a couple of days right now is a good start,” said
Teri Morring, president of the B.C. Teachers Federation. “There will need to be
time throughout the school year dedicated to health and safety training.”
B.C. school boards can ask students to arrive at school
earlier but are required to have students in classrooms by Sept. 10, when
“students will be assigned to their class, find out who is in their learning
group, practise their new routines and familiarize themselves with how to safely
move from the class to outdoor and common areas of the school, according to a
government news release.
Kristin Rushowy
Kristin Rushowy is a Toronto-based reporter covering Ontario
politics for the Star. Follow her on Twitter: @krushowy
Wanyee Li
Wanyee Li is a Vancouver-based reporter for the Star. Follow
her on Twitter: @wanyeelii
https://www.thestar.com/politics/provincial/2020/08/10/toronto-board-wants-to-know-what-parents-think-as-it-pushes-province-to-change-back-to-school-policies.html
Toronto board wants to know what parents think as it
pushes province to change back-to-school policies
By Kristin Rushowy Queen's
Park Bureau
Mon., Aug. 10, 2020timer3 min. read
JOIN THE CONVERSATION
Toronto families will be asked if they intend to send their
children back to school with regular-sized classes, and if they would consider
doing so if classes were smaller — should the province provide funding to make
that happen.
Those questions will go out to parents starting Tuesday as
the Toronto District School Board pushes the provincial government to change
its back-to-school plans.
School board trustees will be voting this week on a motion
to ask that masks be made mandatory students in junior kindergarten to Grade 3
— not just for older students, as is currently planned — in a bid to allay
concerns raised by parents and teachers.
They will also consider a proposal seeking funding from the
province for more teachers, as well as money to improve ventilation in
buildings and to make sure all washrooms have touchless handwashing stations,
among other items.
“I am moving the mask requirement because public health
agencies agree that children over two years should wear masks indoors, and when
social distancing is not available,” said Beaches-East York Trustee Michelle
Aarts, noting that Toronto bylaws mandate masks in indoor spaces.
“We want to start from a position of ‘an abundance of
caution,’ with proper education, training, options, and flexibility for different
age groups, and then revise protocols as needed,” she said.
Aarts added that her youngest child is seven years old, and
attends “an overcapacity school of over 1,000 students,” while another child
has health issues.
“Masks in schools are a minimum requirement for me to choose
to send my youngest back to school,” she said.
Like boards across the province, the TDSB is now trying to
gauge parents’ interest in having their children return to the classroom as the
COVID-19 pandemic continues.
Families must decide if they want to send their children to
school full-time, or prefer remote learning at home. All boards are warning
that if parents change their minds after choosing the online option, their
children could be put on a wait-list.
High school students in large, urban boards will have the
chance to switch from in-person to at-home learning between “quadmesters.”
The government has mandated masks for students starting in
Grade 4, and also set high school class sizes at 15 students in the larger
boards. Elementary class sizes will remain as they were, which had meant up to
30 students in a classroom.
The province is providing about $30 million to the Ontario’s
72 boards to hire additional teachers. It is also hiring 500 public health
nurses, in part to assist with random COVID-19 testing in high schools.
The government is spending more than $309 million on
education costs related to COVID-19, which Premier Doug Ford has said will
result in the highest per-student expenditure of any province.
Experts at Sick Kids and other children’s hospitals,
however, have said that smaller classes are critical to the safe return, along
with physical distancing and good hand hygiene.
On Monday, Ford said he’s confident about the fall restart,
“but to say I’m confident no one’s going to catch the virus — it’s just not
realistic with two million (students) going back into the system, 160,000
teachers. But I do believe we have the best plan in the entire country.”
Education Minister Stephen Lecce said the government is
doing everything it can to “de-risk” the return to classrooms. “We’re doing
everything we can to follow the evidence, the science and the emerging advice
of our public health agencies, to put in layers of prevention,” Lecce said.
In a letter to Ford, Liberal Leader Steven Del Duca called
on the premier to keep class sizes small. His party has calculated that the
government needs
to spend $3.2 billion to hire enough teachers, caretakers and to ensure
student and staff safety.
Del Duca also said the province could consider delaying the
start of the school year “to ensure that we get it right. This can be done
using the same regional approach that’s been used for the reopening of our
economy, recognizing that a one-size-fits-all plan may not be advisable.”
The TDSB has said many of it schools are older and have
small classrooms, so it will be difficult to enforce physical distancing if
classes remain at their current size.
Kristin
Rushowy is a Toronto-based reporter covering Ontario politics for the Star.
Follow her on Twitter: @krushowy
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/alberta-public-private-high-schools-1.5681446
Edmonton
Alberta government considers public-private partnerships
for 5 high school builds
Social Sharing
School divisions say high school space urgently needed
Janet
French · CBC News · Posted: Aug 11, 2020 6:00 AM MT | Last Updated: 8 hours
ago
Alberta Infrastructure Minister Prasad Panda's department is
studying whether a group of five new high schools should be built and
maintained as public-private partnerships. (Prasad Panda campaign)
Five new Alberta high schools could be built and maintained
as public-private partnerships (P3s), according to the provincial
infrastructure department.
Alberta Infrastructure is exploring whether it can save
money by engaging a private company to assume the risks of constructing and
owning a bundle of new high schools in Edmonton, Leduc,
Blackfalds and Langdon.
Together, the projects would be worth more than $200 million
and accommodate more than 6,000 students.
"P3s have been successfully used to deliver school
projects and have demonstrated value for money when compared to traditional
delivery methods," said Hadyn Place, press secretary to Infrastructure
Minister Prasad Panda, in an email last month.
However, P3 construction projects can be controversial. Edmonton school boards
have previously struggled with flooded and muddy school yards they
were powerless to fix and boiling classrooms in which the temperature could
only be controlled by calling someone in Toronto.
Some critics say P3 contracts look cheaper up
front but cost more in the long run as governments make payments over
decades.
Last year, the Alberta government explored building five new elementary-junior high schools as P3s.
Panda later changed his mind, saying government would fund the
construction to create jobs during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Former Progressive Conservative governments built
approximately 40 P3 schools in Alberta.
High school space an urgent need
Five projects that the government promised to fund in
April 2020 are part of a bundle of builds that could be P3s. They include:
- A
public high school in Edmonton's Meadows area for 2,400 students, at a
cost of at least $81 million.
- A
Catholic high school in Edmonton's Heritage Valley for 1,300 students, at
an estimated cost of $52 million.
- A
$47-million public high school in Leduc with an opening capacity of 1,000
students and the possibility of future additions.
- The
first public high school in Blackfalds, for 970 students in Grades
9-12, at a cost of $29 million.
- A
public Grade 7-12 school for Langdon, in Rocky View school division, for
900 students. An estimated cost was unavailable.
Construction is expected to start on the schools in 2021,
and they should be open for students by September 2024.
Although the infrastructure minister has not yet made a
decision, several school divisions have been told to plan as if the schools
will be P3s.
High schools in suburban Edmonton, as well as bedroom
communities in Edmonton and Calgary, are running out of room as a demographic
bulge of children approach their teen years. (Reuters/Vincent Kessler)
Spokespeople for several school divisions said the need for
more space is so dire, they're less concerned with how the construction is
funded.
John Fiacco, Edmonton Catholic Schools' superintendent of
educational planning, said Monday that two Catholic high schools in south
Edmonton are already full. A demographic bulge of students has also filled K-9
schools in the south beyond capacity. Fiacco said they'll need somewhere to go.
"Our push is to get spaces for students to learn,"
he said. "And whether it comes through a P3 model or driven by the
province, we just want to work with whatever construct is given to us in order
to make this happen."
Growth continues despite pandemic
The residents of Langdon, which is 35 kilometres east of
Calgary, have been advocating for a local high school for
years, said Greg Luterbach, superintendent of Rocky View Schools, last week.
High school students ride the bus about 12 km to
Chestermere, where the public high school is also nearly full, he said. Both
communities are growing.
Although Luterbach is happy to have the new high school on
the way, he wonders how a P3 arrangement could affect the potential to partner
with the local county to potentially build a shared community facility with the
school.
In Leduc, 33 km south of Edmonton, the high school is
bursting at 110 per cent capacity, Black Gold school division superintendent
Bill Romanchuk said last week.
A long-term maintenance contract for P3 schools is what
worries division leaders, he said. Simple repairs like a paint touch-up or
repaired hole in the wall must all go through a third-party contractor, which
is more expensive than division employees doing the repairs themselves, he
said.
"We're not going to bite the hand that feeds us,"
he said. "We've expressed our preferences to Alberta Infrastructure and
our MLA. We're getting a new school and we're happy about that."
An Amazon warehouse and supply operations coming to Leduc is
expected to create at least 5,000 jobs and will likely bring an even
larger influx of students, he said.
Edmonton Public School Board chair Trisha Estabrooks says
growth remains the school division's biggest challenge, despite the COVID-19
pandemic. (Trevor Wilson/CBC)
Edmonton Public Schools is also "desperate" for
more high schools, chair Trisha Estabrooks said Monday.
She thinks her division is best placed to manage school
construction projects efficiently. Although some previous P3 builds were
successful, others had "significant problems" once they were open,
she said.
"I think about situations where small changes are
needed within the school and there's a big hullabaloo to get it changed in the
P3 contract," she said. "There's concerns about maintenance work
not being done in a timely fashion."
Estabrooks acknowledged that the United Conservative Party
government campaigned on more P3 infrastructure projects, and she said
parents with kids in crowded schools likely care most about whether there's
space for their teens.
"At the end of the day, we need schools, and we need
them built as quickly as possible."
About the Author
Janet
French
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/editorials/article-yes-your-kids-should-go-back-to-school-yes-it-can-be-done-safely/
Opinion
Yes, your kids should go back to school. Yes, it can be
done safely
The Editorial Board
Published 13 hours ago
In normal times, it’s the kids who get anxious about their
first day of school. Today, as September approaches, parents across the country
are the ones with knots in their stomachs, worried that the return to the
classroom will pose a health risk to their children, but also worried that
keeping them home could be harmful to their well-being in other, possibly more
serious, ways.
Closing schools as part of the country’s first response to
the COVID-19 pandemic was necessary and reasonable at the time. But it has come
at a price. School closings have “significant adverse health and welfare
consequences for children and youth,” according to a report from the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto.
Those adverse effects include setbacks to children’s
educational, emotional, social and physical development caused by their absence
from the classroom.
The downsides also include increased rates of depression and
anxiety in children, as well as higher suicide rates, the SickKids report says.
More than half the parents surveyed in a recent Ontario study cited by SickKids
said they had seen “drastic changes in mood, behaviour and personality” in
their children since schools were closed.
As well, the SickKids report said the stresses on parents
caused by the economic shutdown – unemployment, financial insecurity,
precarious housing – can trickle down and result in maltreatment. Bonnie Henry,
the Provincial Health Officer for British Columbia, says schools are a “safe space” for some at-risk children – a front line for
their health care and sometimes the only place they get a decent meal.
It’s for the sake of children’s welfare and health – and not
simply because reopening schools would make life easier for working parents –
that SickKids, as well as other public-health experts, support a return to the
classroom this fall, as long as the necessary precautions are taken.
Parents are understandably nervous. There are no absolutes
when it comes to preventing the spread of COVID-19 – other than self-isolation
and virtual learning, that is, and those are not the best choices.
On balance, the best choice is a cautious return to school,
a decision based on three critical factors.
First, the state of COVID-19 in Canada. For now, the disease
is under control. Outside of clusters that occur as the result of identifiable
events, such as ill-advised house parties, there is relatively little community
transmission in this country.
Second, the limited effects of the disease on young people.
Children, especially teens, may be able to act as vectors to spread the disease
to adults and that is an area of concern. But since the start of the pandemic,
only one Canadian under the age of 20 has died from COVID-19 and
only 26 have been admitted to an intensive-care unit. In 2018, car accidents killed 179 young Canadians and sent nearly
1,200 to hospital.
And third, vigilance works. Physical distancing, regular
hand-washing and wearing a mask can prevent the spread of COVID-19, if enough
people do it.
Israel has been cited recently as an example of the dangers
of reopening classes, when a large outbreak occurred 10 days after schools
returned. But on closer inspection, the outbreak happened because students went
to class with symptoms, the classes were large and overcrowded, with 35
students and up, and a heat wave meant wearing masks wasn’t feasible.
In other countries, such as Finland and Sweden, schools that
enforce physical distancing and other measures have reopened without major
incident.
In Germany and the United States, students went back to school
this week in large numbers, with different rules in different states. It
remains to be seen how it plays out in each country.
But for Canadians, the bottom line is twofold: Schools need
to reopen for the sake of children’s long-term well-being; there’s credible
evidence to believe it can be done safely, as long as the proper precautions
are in place.
It will not be perfect. There will be outbreaks. But Canada
has successfully reduced its rate of transmission by following the evolving
science and the advice of public-health experts. This is not the time to stop.
Based on everything we currently know about COVID-19 and about the effects of
the lockdown on children, sending kids back to school this fall is the right
thing to do.
As long as it’s done properly, of course. We’ll write more
about that later this week.
Keep your Opinions sharp and informed. Get the Opinion
newsletter. Sign
up today.
Follow us on Twitter @globedebate Opens
in a new window
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/article-clear-back-to-school-guidelines-are-needed-to-ease-parental-angst/
OPINION
Clear back-to-school
guidelines are needed to ease parental angst
ANDRÉ PICARD
PUBLISHED AUGUST 10, 2020 UPDATED 59 MINUTES AGO
There is no perfect way to reopen schools, but there is
certainly a wrong way: dithering and prevaricating about back-to-school plans
and driving parents out of their minds with worry, fear and guilt.
More than 5.5 million Canadian students are slated to return
to classes within weeks.
Political, educational and public-health leaders need to
announce clear plans, however imperfect, for doing so as safely and smartly as
possible.
Not in a week. Not in two weeks. Now.
Just as importantly, they need to assuage the concerns of
parents.
Schooling has to be a priority. We can do it safely by learning from the
successes and failures of other countries.
Children are not being dispatched to the fiery pits of hell.
If we do this correctly, they are going be better off in school than they are
now, wallowing in isolation and/or mingling in an indiscriminate manner.
In school, kids are going to learn, be with their friends,
socialize and play – and they’re going to do so in a controlled environment.
What parents need to know is exactly what that environment
will look like. It’s not going to be – or at least it shouldn’t be – the
classrooms of yore, with 30 kids shoehorned into a room and moving about en
masse.
Physical distancing is the single most important
public-health measure we have to protect ourselves against the novel
coronavirus. To allow children to be two metres apart, there should be no more
than 15 students assigned to a typically sized classroom.
We can and should make that happen, instead of debating it
ad nauseam.
Schedules should be managed so that each group limits its
interactions with other groups. For example: implementing staggered lunch hours
instead of having everyone eat in the cafeteria at once. Large group
activities, such as high-school sports, should be kept to a minimum.
Cohorts (or bubbles if you prefer) of 15 are also practical
because if there is an infection detected, you can quarantine a small group
rather than an entire school.
Digital learning can supplement or replace classes for those
who opt out of in-class attendance. Special attention should be paid to
accommodate those with learning disabilities.
Elementary and high-school students should wear masks.
Currently, the rules on this are all over the map. The Public Health Agency of
Canada recommends everyone 10 and up should be masked; that’s
as good a cutoff as any. Teachers should wear face shields and, with older
students, masks, too.
We also have to pay attention to air quality. Classes should
be outdoors whenever possible. Open windows are an alternative. HVAC filters
should be updated and air purifiers are helpful, too.
Book-length guidelines, such as the Harvard School of Public
Health’s excellent Schools For Health publication, are useful for
experts, but parents need this guidance in digestible bites: Your child will be
in a class of 15, with good ventilation, wearing a mask.
Clearly stated rules such as these would provide a
relatively safe learning environment and, hopefully, calm some parental angst.
Schools do not exist in a vacuum. The best way to keep kids
(and everyone else) safe is to ensure the virus is circulating as little as
possible.
Benchmarks can and should be set.
In parts of the United States, such as New York State,
officials have determined that if the positivity rate of coronavirus tests is
less than 5 per cent, in-person instruction can resume. (In Canada, the
positivity rate is 2.5 per cent since the beginning of the pandemic, but
currently about 0.5 per cent.)
Another benchmark to aim for is less than one case of
coronavirus for every 100,000, which indicates little community transmission.
Practically speaking, that would mean, for example, reporting fewer than 150
new cases a day in Ontario. (On Monday, the province reported 115 new cases.)
We also have to keep the risk of kids returning to school in
perspective. Yes, the coronavirus is new and it’s scary, but it pales in
comparison to other risks. The single biggest danger in a Canadian child’s life
is getting into a car.
Parents cannot rationally argue, “My kid won’t go back to
school because it’s too dangerous,” and then turn around and drive off on a
family camping trip.
We are concerned – obsessed, even – with making schools
safe, and that’s good. But we have to concern ourselves with what children will
be doing if they’re not in school.
Very few of them will be bubble-wrapped in the basement. Nor
should they be. But they can and should be learning and growing in social
bubbles at school.
FOLLOW ANDRÉ PICARD ON TWITTER @PICARDONHEALTH
https://lfpress.com/news/local-news/london-areas-encouraging-covid-19-caseload-a-good-springboard-as-school-nears/wcm/a787f434-c4ae-4f27-b0af-7ecdbe7add74/
London-area's encouraging COVID-19 caseload 'a good
springboard' as school nears
As parents fret and teachers sweat about the return to
school – just weeks away in Ontario – doctors say low COVID-19 numbers are a
good signal to get London and area kids back in class.
Author of the article:
Megan Stacey
Publishing date:
Aug 10, 2020 • Last Updated 11 hours
ago • 3 minute read
Dr. Mario Elia (Mike Hensen/The London Free Press)
As parents fret and teachers sweat about the return to
school – just weeks away in Ontario – doctors say low COVID-19 numbers are a
good signal to get London and area kids back in class.
One new coronavirus infection was announced this weekend,
bringing the total caseload so far in London and Middlesex County to 683, with
20 of those cases still active. It’s become an encouraging pattern, save for a
rare day or two, for local officials to report zero or just one new case each
day.
London-area's encouraging COVID-19 caseload 'a good
springboard' as school nears
“Our numbers couldn’t possibly be at a better place right
now,” said Dr. Mario Elia, a family physician in southwest London and an
adjunct professor in Western University’s family medicine department.
He credited a strong willingness from the public to keep
distance from others, wear masks, and keep up other public health
recommendations, like frequent and thorough hand washing.
“My hope is that we can keep this momentum going, with low
community spread . . . as long as everyone keeps doing what we’re doing,
there’s no reason we shouldn’t have a good springboard to start school.”
Elia said the return to classrooms – where schoolkids,
teachers, and staff will inevitably come into close contact with many other
people – is the top COVID-19 question he’s hearing from patients.
Despite the anxiety, public health officials say London and
Middlesex County is in a good place for back-to-school.
“The numbers are as low since we’ve seen since the start of
this (pandemic),” said Dr. Alex Summers, the region’s associate medical officer
of health, calling those statistics “reassuring.”
They’ve stayed low in the three weeks since London entered the third phase of re-opening, too,
welcoming customers back inside restaurants, bars, fitness facilities and other
indoor spaces.
Ontario has also seen promising numbers lately, with fewer
than 100 new cases each day for a week.
“This is probably the best time to think about the return to
school, knowing that we’ve made such wonderful progress and school is such an
important part of children’s development,” Summers said, though he added that
he understands parents will still “be fretful” about the transition.
The good news is that kids tend to fare well if they get
COVID-19, Summers said.
Both Elia and Summers said families should think about how
to limit contact with others outside school. The fall will bring cooler
weather, which may put an end to the safer, outdoor gatherings people have been
enjoying for months.
Now is the time to get in those hugs and kisses with
grandparents, Elia said.
“I’m telling all my patients, if their kids are going back
to school – which in the majority of cases I think is appropriate – that
they’re careful their social bubble does not include those who are high-risk,
that being seniors and those with medical conditions,” he said.
It’s best to keep two metres away from older folks and those
with compromised immune systems whenever possible once kids are back in class,
“an environment where their bubble is suddenly going to expand to 100 people or
more,” Elia said.
He’s still hoping to see smaller class sizes, especially for
the benefit of teacher and staff health, when schools re-open.
The risk hasn’t gone away, even with numbers this low.
Community spread is still happening, Summers stressed.
“It’s not rampant, by any means, but it’s still out there,”
he said. “We’re not at stage normal.”
mstacey@postmedia.com
twitter.com/MeganatLFPress
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/ontario-elementary-class-sizes-covid-19-1.5679764?ref=mobilerss&cmp=newsletter_CBC%20Toronto_1642_85512
Toronto
Ontario's largest school board commits to shrinking
elementary class sizes in areas hit hardest by COVID-19
Social Sharing
TDSB banking on funds promised by province to hire more
staff, trustee Parthi Kandavel says
Kelda Yuen,
Desmond Brown ·
CBC News · Posted: Aug 08, 2020 8:46 PM ET | Last Updated: August 10
TDSB trustee Parthi Kandavel says certain Toronto
neighborhoods have been disproportionately hit by COVID-19. (CBC)
A Toronto District School Board (TDSB) trustee says the
province's largest school board will prioritize shrinking elementary class
sizes in neighbourhoods hit hardest by COVID-19.
On Friday, Education Minister Stephen Lecce pointed to a number of new
investments and policies for school boards announced by the
province — among them, $30 million to hire more staff to decrease
elementary class sizes whenever possible.
TDSB trustee Parthi Kandavel said the board will be submitting an application
for that funding; and while he's not sure if the funds will be distributed by
population or by need, they're asking for as much as possible to be given to
the Toronto District School Board.
"[Toronto] is disproportionately hit, and certain neighbourhoods … are hit
the hardest," Kandavel, who represents Ward 18, Scarborough
Southwest, told CBC News.
"We need to address that to ensure the safety of our teachers and of
course our students and families.
"The bulk of what we're counting on for the strategy of reducing class
sizes in hardest-hit neighbourhoods, will come down to that provincial fund
that's been set up," Kandavel added.
In Ontario, there are no cap sizes for kindergarten and
classes in Grades 4 through 8, only a maximum average of 24.5 across each
board. That means it's not uncommon for children in high enrolment school
boards to find themselves in classes of 30 or more students.
Just over a week ago, Toronto Public Health released startling data showing
that Black people or other people of colour made up 83 per cent of all
confirmed COVID-19 cases in the city outside of long-term care homes.
Previously, the city identified
neighbourhoods that have been hit hardest by the novel coronavirus.
In the aftermath, city leaders have called for short-term improvements — like
more targeted testing and public awareness campaigns — to better help those
most at risk.
However it's unclear how the data is guiding Ontario's back-to-school plan.
"I'm hopeful [Lecce will] understand that there's such an intersection
between geography and race, and who lives in these neighbourhoods; and
this will hopefully inform their decision to fund Toronto appropriately to
[address] these hardest-hit neighbourhoods," Kandavel said.
We are going to place those teachers in those hot spots to
reduce class sizes.
- Parthi Kandavel -TDSB trustee
Kandavel pointed to Woburn — the eighth most-hit
neighbourhood in Toronto — that he said would be given priority in the
placement of extra teachers.
He also highlighted other areas "like the Jane and
Keele corridor, and in the northwest, there's Rexdale."
Many of these harder-hit neighbourhoods are home
to higher proportions of crowded multi-unit residences and essential front-line
workers.
"The plan is — granted we are given the additional funding from the
province, which I suspect will happen — we are going to place those teachers in
those hot spots to reduce class sizes," Kandavel said.
Anusha Kumarasan, whose five-year-old son, Joshua, is going into senior
kindergarten — lives in the Woburn area.
She agrees that funding and resources should go to hardest-hit neighbourhoods
first. But even if classes are downsized, she is worried about sending her kid
to school.
"I'm very nervous about it. I'm leaning more towards online learning than
actually sending him because he's so young," Kumarasan told CBC News.
"What is he going to know about sanitizing and all that? So I'm very
nervous about it. Even if the class was, let's say 15 students, it will still
be nerve-wracking because we don't know where the kids have been."
"They're coming into a classroom and playing together, passing things to
each other. It comes down to those little things. I really don't want to send
him back," Kumarasan added.
Anusha Kumarasan, whose five-year-old son is going into
Senior Kindergarten, says even if classes are downsized, she is nervous about
sending her kid to school. (Kelda Yuen/CBC)
Ryan Bird, a TDSB spokesperson, confirmed the board is
looking for solutions.
"We're aware of this issue and are discussing what may be possible with
the Ministry of Education," he said in an email statement.
Last Friday, Premier Doug Ford and Education Minister Stephen Lecce defended
the province's plan but did not give a direct answer when asked if they would
spend more to lower class sizes.
"We have to be adaptable," Ford told reporters. "We have to be
flexible — we have been flexible."
Kandavel said the province is expected
to reveal next week how it will be allocating the $30
million funding.
"This is going to be one of those big tests for us and for the
public — that we're meeting the needs of those hardest hit."
CBC's
Journalistic Standards and Practices|About CBC News
https://www.thespec.com/opinion/contributors/2020/08/07/government-plan-will-leave-elementary-students-at-risk.html
Government plan will
leave elementary students at risk
SH
By Sam Hammond
Fri., Aug. 7, 2020timer2 min. read
With the government’s plan for return to school in
September, it is clear that restaurants, grocery stores and gyms will have more
safety restrictions in place than elementary schools.
It is also painfully clear that neither Premier Ford nor
Education Minister Stephen Lecce have any sense of what a day in a classroom
looks like in Ontario.
If they did, they would know that with a packed classroom of
24, or in some cases more than 30 students, it is impossible to ensure physical
distancing. The premier is also oblivious to the realities of a kindergarten
classroom. There may be two educators in the room but there are still upwards
to 30 children in a confined space. That’s concerning. These students don’t sit
in rows; they are engaged in learning through play. They are more active and
have less self-regulation than older students.
It’s not uncommon that COVID-19 outbreaks have occurred
involving young children. In Jaffa, Israel, 33 elementary students and five
staff were infected, as were nine of 11 classmates in a Trois-Rivières
elementary school. Outbreaks at two child care centres in Toronto and Montreal
forced temporary closures in late spring.
The Ford government is being disingenuous when it says its
plan is based on recommendations from the Sick Kids Hospital Report on Return
to School. The report’s authors specifically called for smaller class sizes so
that physical distancing can be maintained.
Two-metre physical distancing and mask wearing have been
required for indoor activities across the province. Why not in the classroom?
We know that COVID-19 does not distinguish between a grocery store and a
classroom, between a coffee shop and school hallways.
The fact that students in kindergarten to Grade 3 are not
being required to wear masks is also troubling, since the scientific evidence
regarding young children and transmission is still evolving. Even the Sick Kids
Hospital Report authors could not come to consensus on the mask issue for
children younger than 10 years old. Given that school boards have a duty to
take every reasonable measure to protect the safety of students and staff, why
would we not practice caution? All students should be required to wear masks to
protect their safety and the safety of the entire school community.
That is why the Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario
(ETFO) has sent a letter to those municipalities with bylaws mandating the use
of masks within indoor spaces requesting that schools be included.
The Ontario government needs to stop, rethink its severely
flawed plan and put the necessary funding in place to ensure the safety and
health of students, educators and staff. That includes sufficient funding for
smaller classes, improved building ventilation to comply with recommended
standards, rental of additional classroom space if needed and the hiring of
more educators to provide instruction to both smaller classes and to those
students whose parents have elected to have them participate in distance
learning.
Ontarians don’t need a government that gambles on the safety
of students, staff, parents and their communities. The Ford government needs to
listen to parents and educators and stop trying to cut costs on a safe return
to school. We need a government that will safeguard the health of children and
educators as they return to school this fall.
Sam Hammond is the president of the Elementary Teachers’
Federation of Ontario.
GET THE LATEST IN YOUR INBOX
Never miss the latest news from The Spectator, including
up-to-date coronavirus coverage, with our email newsletters.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/ford-lecce-school-plan-distancing-covid-19-ontario-update-1.5677727?ref=mobilerss&cmp=newsletter_CBC%20News%20Top%20Headlines%20%20%E2%80%93%20Morning_1613_83559
Toronto
Premier, education
minister defend Ontario's back-to-school plan amid class size concerns
Social Sharing
Ontario keeping elementary class sizes at pre-COVID-19
levels
CBC News · Posted: Aug 07, 2020 9:01 AM ET | Last
Updated: 1 hour ago
Watch
Parents and public health agencies concerned about
back-to-school safety
As Ontario parents continue to press the government for
stronger safety measures when schools reopen, public health agencies are making
statements that seem to reinforce the parents' arguments. 1:53
Premier Doug Ford and his education minister defended
Ontario's back-to-school plan on Friday amid concerns about elementary class
sizes, saying the government is "flexible" but does not intend to
revisit the strategy.
"We have to be adaptable," Ford told reporters
during a morning news conference at Queen's Park. "We have to be
flexible — we have been flexible."
Education Minister Stephen Lecce first revealed the province's
plan for a return to class for students last week. Since
then, he and the premier have
faced criticism from some parents and educators, in particular
over the decision to keep elementary school class sizes at pre-COVID-19 levels.
"As a dad, I get it. I have four girls who went through
the system. I understand the concerns of the parents," Ford said.
In Ontario, there are no cap sizes for classes
in Grades 4 through 8, only a maximum average of 24.5 across each board.
That means it's not uncommon for children in high enrolment school boards to
find themselves in classes of 30 or more students.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford, left, and his Education Minister
Stephen Lecce repeatedly called the province's back-to-school plan the best in
the country during a news conference Friday. (Frank Gunn/The Canadian
Press)
On Friday, Ford and Lecce said that the health of
students is their top priority and that a combination of COVID-19 measures will
keep children safe.
Lecce pointed to a number of new investments and
policies for school boards announced by the province last week. Among
them, $30 million to hire more staff to decrease elementary class
sizes whenever possible.
Both Lecce and Ford have already conceded that despite
measures to maximize the available space for in-person learning, distancing of
at least two metres — the range recommended by Canadian public health experts
amid the COVID-19 pandemic — won't always be possible for students in school.
Ford said that while it's not a "perfect" plan, it
is still the best "in the entire country."
He also stressed that parents who are especially concerned
have the ability to opt for online learning curriculums for their children.
Boards encouraged 'to be innovative'
A mandatory mask policy for students in Grade 4 to 12,
limiting the number of people students will interact with during the school day
and hiring additional custodians and public health nurses will all help boost
safety, Lecce said.
"When you look at it as a collective, that plan and
that protocol will keep kids safe," he said.
Converting gyms and cafeterias into learning spaces will
also open up space for distancing, he said.
"We've encouraged [boards] to be innovative."
Back-to-school plan draws both fear and praise from Ontario
parents
Education unions in Toronto call on TDSB to rethink school
restart plan
Despite assurances from elected officials, the province's
plan has drawn concerns from the likes of Toronto Public Health.
In a letter sent by the organization to the Toronto District
School Board (TDSB) this week, health experts raised a number of red flags and
urged the board to keep class sizes down to ensure two metres between students.
The TDSB has also said publicly it alone would need $250
million from the province to hire enough additional staff to reduce elementary
class sizes boardwide.
$234M for child-care services
Meanwhile, the province, along with the federal government,
announced new funding to help support child-care services during Ontario's
COVID-19 reopening.
Ford said the two governments have earmarked $234.6 million
for childhood and early-years settings among licensed daycare facilities.
The money comes as part of the Safe Restart agreement, a
deal struck between Ottawa and the provinces that will see Ontario receive $7
billion in additional funding.
Rural, northern boards grapple with Ontario's back-to-school
plan
Ford says the child-care money will be used to enhance
cleaning and public safety protocols for facilities, including licensed daycare
providers and First Nations Child and Family programs.
The government says it will be providing face coverings to
all those settings, but did not immediately offer details of other measures the
money would help fund.
Ontario's daycare centres, which have been operating in a
limited capacity since mid-March, are allowed to fully reopen as of Sept. 1.
88 new COVID-19 cases
The Ontario Ministry of Health reported 88 new cases of
COVID-19 across the province on Friday, the fifth straight day with fewer than
100 newly confirmed infections of the novel coronavirus.
Toronto, Peel and Ottawa were the only public health units
to see 10 or more additional cases.
Ontario has now reported a total of 39,897 instances of
COVID-19. Of those, slightly more than 90 per cent are considered resolved by
public health officials.
There are currently about 1,090 confirmed cases of the
illness still active provincewide.
At 66, the number of patients in Ontario hospitals with
confirmed COVID-19 cases remains at its lowest since the Ministry of Health
began reporting hospitalization data on April 1. Twenty-eight people are being
treated in intensive care and just 12 remain on ventilators.
Ontario's official COVID-19 death toll stayed steady at
2,783. A CBC News count based on data provided directly by public health units
put the real toll at 2,821.
All of the figures used in this story are found in the
Ministry of Health's daily update, which includes data from up until 4 p.m. the
previous day. The number of cases for any particular region on a given day may
differ from what is reported by the local public health unit, which often avoid
the lag times in the provincial system.
With files from Lucas Powers and The Canadian Press
**********************************************************************
Quarantine Math Lessons at Home, New as of August 13, 2020
Grade 4: Measurement
Overall Expectations
By the end of Grade 4, students will:
• estimate, measure, and record length, perimeter, area,
mass, capacity, volume, and elapsed time, using a variety of strategies;
• determine the relationships among units and measurable
attributes, including the area and perimeter of rectangles.
Specific Expectations
Attributes, Units,
and Measurement Sense
By the end of Grade 4, students will:
– estimate, measure, and record length, height, and
distance, using standard units (i.e., millimetre, centimetre, metre, kilometre)
(e.g., a pencil that is 75 mm long);
https://www.education.com/resources/fourth-grade/measurement-word-problems/
https://ca.ixl.com/math/grade-4?partner=bing&adGroup=Search+-+Grade+Levels+-+Mod+Broad+-+Math+-+Int+4th+grade+math&msclkid=844106eaea6c154a1dbc59d99340cb5f&utm_source=bing&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=Search+-+Grade+Levels+-+Mod+Broad+-+Math+-+Int&utm_term=%2Bmath+%2Bgrade+%2B4&utm_content=4th+grade+math
https://www.k5learning.com/free-math-worksheets/fourth-grade-4
– draw items using a ruler, given specific lengths in
millimetres or centimetres (Sample problem: Use estimation to draw a line that
is 115 mm long. Beside it, use a ruler to draw a line that is 115 mm long.
Compare the lengths of the lines.);
https://www.education.com/worksheets/math/?msclkid=e7b1a4bec2a71a416f59fb8db940c2bb&utm_source=bing&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=Search%20-%20Worksheets%20-%20Edu%20Terms%20-%20BMM&utm_term=%2Bmath%20%2Bworksheet&utm_content=Math%20worksheets
https://ca.ixl.com/?partner=bing&adGroup=Search+-+General+-+Phrase+-+Int+math+worksheets&msclkid=e352b08254d31d35654defb12f342382&utm_source=bing&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=Search+-+General+-+Phrase+-+Int&utm_term=math+worksheet&utm_content=math+worksheets
http://www.eocccmathinquiry.ca/eoccc-math-grade-4.html
– estimate, measure (i.e., using an analogue clock), and
represent time intervals to the nearest minute;
https://www.education.com/worksheets/math/?msclkid=e5033b557c5d1fe54e46646600fbd320&utm_source=bing&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=Search%20-%20Worksheets%20-%20Edu%20Terms%20-%20BMM&utm_term=%2Bmath%20%2Bworksheet&utm_content=Math%20workshee
https://ca.ixl.com/?partner=bing&adGroup=Search+-+General+-+Phrase+-+Int+math+worksheets&msclkid=eb9fc52e088a12997b7c9a1d742c6ec4&utm_source=bing&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=Search+-+General+-+Phrase+-+Int&utm_term=math+worksheet&utm_content=math+worksheets
https://www.mathworksheets4kids.com/time.php
https://www.math-drills.com/timeworksheets.php
– estimate and determine elapsed time, with and without
using a time line, given the durations of events expressed in five-minute
intervals, hours, days, weeks, months, or years (Sample problem: If you wake up
at 7:30 a.m., and it takes you 10 minutes to eat your breakfast, 5 minutes to
brush your teeth, 25 minutes to wash and get dressed, 5 minutes to get your
backpack ready, and 20 minutes to get to school, will you be at school by 9:00
a.m.?);
https://www.education.com/worksheets/time/
– estimate, measure using a variety of tools(e.g.,
centimetre grid paper, geoboard) and strategies, and record the perimeter and
area of polygons;
http://www.eocccmathinquiry.ca/eoccc-math-grade-4.html
=================================================================
Secret 75% Class Average Policy (Do teachers follow a 75% class average policy when they mark student work? Is this honest? Does this lead to inaccurate marks? Does this keep some students out of the program they want in college and university by lowering some marks? Can parents sue the school board and the province?)
=============================================================
Lessons During the Pandemic. Parents in Ontario can check this web site and look up the topics and subjects that their children were supposed to learn this past school year. You may purchase workbooks at stores such as Chapters/Indigo to help your child to avoid falling behind. Your local branch of the public library may have activities to help children this summer if Covid-19 cooperates and goes away. Your child's teacher from last year may provide question and answer worksheets and booklets for you to print off. Use youtube to find videos on the topics your child was supposed to learn about this past year. Good luck. TH
Get your child to write a lot of fiction and non-fiction and the parent or grandparent who is the best at writing could correct the work looking for spelling errors, capital letters errors, tense errors, prefixes, suffixes, and punctuation mistakes. You could have children share their stories with each other. Comedy is often a favourite topic.
http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/Curriculum/elementary/grades.html
==============================================================
(A former Catholic educator told me that many years ago a very reliable source told him that not long after abortion became legal in Canada the medical community warned the supporters of abortion rights that they could only expect to have access to abortions upon demand for about twenty years. After that the technology with contraception would be so efficient that there would be very few unwanted pregnancies so the number of abortions requested would be very low. If this happened the medical community would have to de-list abortion services and offer other medical services. The former Catholic educator was told that Pro-Choice had meetings and decided to organize their supporters into getting pregnant just to have abortions so that the abortion doctors would be too busy performing operations to de-list the service. He told me that many of the abortions today and the past ten years have been political abortions, not the consequence of incest, rape, or the mother's life was at risk. Is this true? Do they teach this fact in secondary schools in Canada and the U.S.? Do they teach it in elementary schools?)
