Premier Ford questions Toronto school board's ability to make students wear masks all day

The Toronto District School Board’s (TDSB) intention for all staff and students wear masks has been questioned by Ontario Premier Doug Ford.

The source of the doubt has to do with the ability of younger children to put the masks on and keep them on for several hours. The Ford administration had previously proposed a plan where children from Grade 4 up would wear the masks, but it would appear that the TDSB feels that that’s not enough.

The TDSB plan does have some exceptions to the mask rule. However, these are not clearly defined as of yet, the current guide simply allowing for “reasonable exceptions for medical conditions.”

Ford did say that we would not fight the TDSB and that the decision will be ultimately theirs. "But again we will be there and we will support the board if that is what they want to do. It is just that keeping a mask on a junior or senior kindergartener might be difficult," he opined.

“I will go back to what I always say. We have the safest plan in the entire country. We are pulling out all the stops and won’t spare a penny,” Ford went on to say.

This is an abrupt shift from five days ago, when Ford publicly criticized the teachers union and was saying he didn’t understand why they weren’t cooperating with the government on a plan to safely re-open schools in the Toronto area.

Two days ago, the Ontario government rejected a proposal by the TDSB for re-opening, citing cost overruns and stating that reducing the class size to only 15 students per classroom was neither necessary nor a reasonable measure. There were also issues taken with the idea of reducing the length of the school day by 48 minutes.

Both the rejected plan and the new guide being drafted are "hybrid" plans, which allow for up to 50% of the students’ learning hours to be virtual and from home.

Students attending TDSB schools were initially scheduled to start their 2020-2021 school year on September 8, but it’s looking like that date will have to be pushed back yet further.