Flip-flop on school closures a cause for concern: NDP

QUEEN’S PARK — NDP Education critic Marit Stiles released the following statement in response to the Ford government saying Tuesday that it may shutter school buildings for a time this winter to stop the spread of COVID-19; then saying Wednesday it will not:

“If the threat of COVID-19 in our schools was serious enough for the government to consider shutdowns, surely it’s serious enough to cap class sizes to make students and staff safer.

More than 3,500 children, education workers and teachers have gotten sick with COVID-19. About 100 more get sick with the virus every day. One education worker in a Toronto school has died.

Children and the exhausted and caring staff in schools and on school busses are doing an exceptional job trying to keep each other safe, but the province keeps telling them they’re on their own.

Andrea Horwath and the NDP believe the safest way to bring kids back after winter break is to bring them back into classes of no more than 15 kids, and on school busses that are no more than half full.

In order to crush this virus, Doug Ford needs to stop withholding COVID-19 funding, and spend the money to stop the spread in schools."