Ottawa parents call for COVID back to school plan as Premier promises a return to class
On Tuesday, it will be exactly six weeks until school returns in Ontario.
It's just enough time for unvaccinated teachers to get both doses and gain the full effects of the COVID-19 vaccine before stepping foot into a classroom this fall, but what awaits them, and their students, is still far from clear.
“We need to know what kids will need at school, what teachers are going to do to protect the kids and protect the community,” Francis Giraso said.
A father of two kids, including a six-year-old daughter, Giraso is concerned that without a plan his children could lose another year of schooling.
“It is very scary because we don’t want, at all, for the kids to lose two years in a row. Especially kids that need to socialize and play together, and learn together,” he added.
Speaking at a multimillion dollar funding announcement for the Ottawa Hospital Monday, Premier Doug Ford promised Ontarians kids would be back in the classroom this September.
“We’re going to make sure the kids are going back to school in September, they’re going to be in class. I want to repeat that, they’re going back even if I have to hop in the school bus and drive them myself,” Ford proclaimed.
Ford added that Education Minister Stephen Lecce and the province’s Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Kieran Moore are creating what he called a “strong plan” for a return to school that would be out “very shortly.”
Still, some parents say that information should already be available
“For me, it’s not a good thing, the government is really supposed to take that urgently and think about kids and teachers and for the school so it’s very important,” said Widner Arist, the father of a five-year-old boy.
The wait comes as calls from the opposition grow to mandate vaccinations for teachers and healthcare workers.
The premier said he wouldn’t force people to get a vaccine but hopes uptake in the school system will be high.
“Minister Lecce will be speaking to the unions regarding that. I’m just hoping the vast majority, hopefully 100 per cent of all the teachers, are going to get vaccinated,” Ford said.
Opposition MPP’s say hope isn’t enough.
“It takes some leadership to stand up and say we need to do, get everyone on board, not enough to encourage people we know we have to do more than that,” John Fraser, the Liberal MPP for Ottawa South said.
Ontario’s Science Advisory Table has recommended a return to in-person learning this September in all but the most extreme cases. They are also advising mask usage in moderate or high-risk situations.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Western University researchers unlock potential 'cure' for ALS
New research out of London, Ont.'s Western University is shedding light on a potential cure for ALS, in which the targeting of the interaction between two proteins can halt or fully reverse the disease's progression.
What Michael Cohen said on the stand in Trump hush money case
The star prosecution witness in Donald Trump's hush money trial took the stand Monday with testimony that could help shape the outcome of the first criminal case against an American president.
Collapsed Baltimore bridge span comes down with a boom after crews set off chain of explosives
Crews conducted a controlled demolition Monday to break down the largest remaining span of the collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore.
Police release 3D images of young child found in an Ontario river two years ago
Police have released a three-dimensional image of a young child whose remains were discovered in the Grand River in Dunnville, Ont. almost two years ago.
Kamala Harris drops F-bomb during White House live-stream
U.S. Vice-President Kamala Harris used a profanity on Monday while offering advice to young Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders about how to break through barriers.
Behind the barricades: How protesters spend their first days in a new encampment
Students in Montreal describe life in a newly erected encampment in Montreal as a whirlwind of preparations, from facing rain and a potential police crackdown to setting up a space for the exchange of ideas.
Security video caught admitted serial killer disposing of bodies in Winnipeg garbage bins
Security video caught admitted serial killer Jeremy Skibicki on multiple late-night outings, disposing of body parts in nearby garbage bins and dumpsters in the middle of the night.
Next 48 hours will be 'extremely challenging' for B.C. wildfire crews near Fort Nelson: officials
A wildfire burning dangerously close to Fort Nelson, B.C., has grown to more than 50 square kilometres, and officials are warning that the blaze's behaviour is expected to become more volatile over the next 48 hours.
Southern Ont. man charged with attempted murder in Timmins shooting
One of two men wanted for attempted murder in Timmins has been arrested, while a warrant has been issued for a second suspect, who fled police on foot.