THUNDER BAY – Thunder Bay’s public school board will debate requesting an extension to school masking requirements at a special meeting Friday, with the board’s chair saying it would be prudent to wait, given higher rates of infection in the region.
It’s a decision the Lakehead District School Board can’t make for itself. Instead, trustees will contemplate asking Thunder Bay’s medical officer of health, Dr. Janet DeMille, to make an order under Section 22 of the Health Protection and Promotion Act.
The province announced on Wednesday masking requirements would end in schools and most other indoor venues as of March 21.
“We’ve had time for it to sink in, after the shock of it, to be perfectly honest,” said LDSB chair Ellen Chambers.
“We’re aware our COVID rate is not exactly where it is in Southern Ontario. We really just want to feel we have that extra bit of protection for our students in particular, and our staff, and any vulnerable people that we have [in schools].”
The Thunder Bay District Health Unit reported a seven-day incidence rate of 173.4 cases per 100,000 residents as of March 9, compared to about 68 per 100,000 province-wide.
The local test positivity rate has also been tracking significantly above the provincial average.
The board will ask for the mask rules to be extended until metrics like that improve, she said.
“There are a great number of people who are concerned about lifting the mandate so soon after March Break,” Chambers said, since it’s a time when many will be returning from travel and social occasions.
“It’s one of our huge mandates from the Education Act, to ensure a safe school and working environment. We’re taking that quite seriously.”
The Thunder Bay District Health Unit was not immediately available to comment for this story Friday, but indicated it had not yet received any request from the board.
Meanwhile, the Thunder Bay Catholic District School Board indicated Friday it had no plans at this point to make a similar request.
A growing number of other school boards elsewhere in the province are advocating to extend the rules, including the Toronto District School Board.
The Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board, meanwhile, defied the province by simply voting to keep masks in place for students and staff until April 15.
The Ottawa-Carleton District School Board is also reportedly considering extending its mask mandate.
Teachers’ unions including the OSSTF and ETFO have also said the move is premature, while the Ontario Principals' Council also urged the province to wait.
The head of Ontario’s own COVID-19 Science Advisory Table, Dr. Peter Jüni, said the move was “not supported by science” and “just too early.”
Other provinces including Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, and Quebec have announced plans to lift masking rules in schools, education minister Stephen Lecce has responded.
Provincial officials have also pointed to high vaccination rates among high school students, and the fact few young children have faced serious COVID-related health consequences.
