Yesterday, the Premier came out for a press conference and I think we’re all aware of what’s happening now – the stay at home order has been extended now into June.
No golfing. No tennis. No baseball. No softball. No soccer. No rugby…
Oh, and no back to the classroom teaching and learning mask to mask.
Randall Denley: Even after the COVID vaccines, Doug Ford is too afraid to reopen Ontario
I suspect that we all knew that this was coming. I know who will be mostly affected around here when travelling is allowed again – Jaimie who has never had so much time walking as he does these days. We’ve discovered trails where we didn’t know there were trails.
So, what about schools?
After all, they had been proclaimed to be the safest place for kids before the current stay at home order. Well, nothing has changed there. They’re still going to be closed to most students while they continue their studies at home. Ask any teacher and they’ll tell you that we’re approaching crunch time in the school year.
I was disappointed to read the Premier’s comments about teachers as responded to by a couple of the federations:
Two Ontario teachers’ unions fire back at Doug Ford over school reopening comments
OSSTF and ETFO comments are contained in that article.
We’re now hearing that students as young as 12 are now able to be vaccinated. That’s great news for them and ultimately will be great for secondary schools where this age group goes to learn.
But, what about their teachers?
As you might guess, I am connected with a number of educators throughout the province and I’m so happy for those that are meeting some of the rapidly moving targets for getting their vaccinations depending upon health, age, geography, etc. Yet, nothing so specific as “all teachers”.
How many times have we heard that children are our most precious resource? Shouldn’t we be doing something to protect them?
The nature of the teaching profession would make this so simple. We’re reading reports now of facilities that have open bookings. It just seems so easy to me. As teachers, we’re well accustomed to closing schools for a day or even a half day for professional learning events.
It would be nothing really out of the normal to close down families of schools for a morning or afternoon and have the teachers scheduled for a vaccination at a centre. Around here, some of the locations used for the general public to get their vaccinations are also larger areas that school districts use for professional learning events. One whole segment of our population, the ones that educate those precious resources could be done in one fell swoop.
It seems so simple to me.
doug --- off the record 