With students returning to in-person learning again on January 17, parents and education workers want to know that the schools and classrooms their children are returning to are safe.
Since last summer, Stephen has been advocating extensively to the government for a safe back to school plan. Please see below some of these advocacy efforts.
Letter to Minister of Education – January 12, 2022
As a concerned parent, Stephen wrote to the Minister of Education asking him to take steps to ensure our children’s classrooms were made safer.
In the letter, Stephen asked the Minister to convince the government to return the Legislature to sessions so that MPPs can get back to work, debate the ongoing situation and pass legislation to address ongoing concerns.
Stephen demanded the Minister:
🦠 Add the COVID-19 vaccine to the list of universal vaccinations for students, covered under the Immunization of School Pupils Act and bringing vaccine clinics to schools.
😷 Require the government to transparently and publicly report the progress on HEPA filter and N95 deliveries on a school-by-school basis.
💉 Implement a strong vaccine mandate for all education and childcare workers and prioritize them for boosters.
🧪 Establish a rapid testing program in schools while making PCR testing free and accessible to all families with children in schools.
📃 Pass Bill 7, to give all workers 10 paid sick days, which would ensure parents can isolate if their children are exposed.
📣 Launch an education campaign to combat misinformation and promote vaccine confidence
You can read the full letter here.
Letter to the Premier – January 3
I have again written the Premier, asking him to use the two week shutdown of in-person learning to make improvements to safety in schools.
You can view my full letter to the Premier here.
Since last summer, I have been advocating to the government for additional safety measures in our schools. These safety measures should have been implemented prior to the start of the school year in September.
These safety measures should include:
➡️ Reducing Class Sizes
➡️ Providing Free High-Quality Masks
➡️ Universal Vaccines for Students
➡️ Vaccine Mandate for Education Workers
➡️ Installing HEPA Filtrations in Every Classroom
➡️ Rapid Testing Program in Schools