While the province is yet to make a decision on reducing class sizes, an epidemiologist pleaded with the Upper Grand District School Board to take necessary action immediately.
Dr. Andria Jones-Bitton, a veterinarian, epidemiologist and mother of two children, delegated at the UGDSB board meeting Tuesday representing Ontario Safety Advocacy for Education (OntarioSAFE), an advocacy group consisting of parent guardians, educational workers and concerned citizens.
She asked the board to (1) Take every possible action to achieve optimal physical distancing (aiming for two metres) in school buses and in classrooms, and (2) that the board ensures clear and accessible information about bus, classroom and recess conditions to all guardians of children attending schools.
“I still think there’s an opportunity here for Upper Grand to be a role model here,” said Jones-Bitton about UGDSB getting creative with ways to ensure physical distancing on buses and schools.
She said with the loosening of gathering restrictions in the summer months, school reopening has coincided with increasing community transmission of COVID-19.
“As elimination becomes more elusive, additional measures become more critical to reducing the spread of COVID-19 in schools,” said Jones-Bitton.
“I certainly think that classroom sizing is going to facilitate the spread of COVID-19.”
She said many parents are learning that class sizes are increasing upwards to 30 students despite being told differently at the beginning of the school year.
“Which frankly in non-pandemic times I think is too high but it's just absolutely unfathomable. Unfathomable in a pandemic situation,” said Jones-Bitton.
“I’ve learned about kindergarten classes where classes are not being separated into two groups and where spacing is so problematic that children have been eating their snacks and meals on trays on the floor.”
She said she also heard of situations where functional windows are not being used and are only opened at the request of some students.
“It should not be the responsibility of students to advocate so directly for their own safety,” said Jones-Bitton.
She also mentioned a concern that community residents share when observing children from different schools mixing together on a bus.
“This is not the cohort that we are being told about through government channels and that disinfecting between those busloads is not likely in line with what we’re being told,” said Jones-Bitton.
She added that UGDSB’s average of 34 students per school bus does not allow for any meaningful physical distancing, and occupancy on buses needs to be reduced to 23 in order for each student to at least be 84 cm away from their neighbours on the bus.
She said the UGDSB could be a role model here for other school boards by using creative options to ensure safety such as using alternative spaces such as community spaces to ensure physical distancing, using plexiglass where distancing is a concern and further enhancing ventilation systems in schools.
Director of Education Martha Rogers confirmed that the board did in fact petition to the province to ask for additional funds to reduce bus occupants and class sizes to a more optimal level.
The board had also purchased and installed 300 standalone HEPA grade filtration units for windowless classrooms prior to the school reopening.
Rogers stated that the board is hiring 165 long-term occasional teachers to reduce class sizes in UGDSB elementary and secondary schools.
“There is a contract teacher and occasional teacher shortage in our schools and also provincial but we’re doing our best to get a teacher in front of every class that we currently have,” said Rogers.
Rogers also stated the difficulty the board is facing when looking for French teachers. “But I believe we’re doing our best and we hired three just today,” said Rogers.
She also mentioned supervision issues that emerge from a shortage of teachers.
“Even if we had all the money in the world — and I’m not saying we do, we don’t — it’s difficult to resolve this issue easily on a practical level as long as every student goes to school every day,” said Rogers, which is the case in elementary schools.
She said the board strives to have one student per seat on school buses unless two students reside in the same home or are situated in the same cohort in school.
“So when looking into buses, it may look like students are mixing,” said Rogers.
“That's as far as we could go in terms of limiting the number on our buses without starting to kick students off the bus.
“We are trying our best in both areas in terms of classroom size reduction and also limiting the number of buses. we are very aware of your concerns. We are not saying they’re not an issue because we totally know they are on the buses and particularly in the elementary schools,” said Rogers.
In an update about school reopening in elementary schools, Gary Slater, superintendent of education stated that the startup to school has been calm and students have been adapting fairly well to their new routines.
“Students seem happy to be back in school. They always are but particularly I’ve heard that several times from administrators that were talking from schools,” said Slater.
“The issue of masks has also been going very well. I would even say many of our school staff are surprised at how well it went,” said Slater mentioning that some students have even chosen to wear their masks in elected times.
