Why I am fighting to reopen Ontario's schools

Yesterday, the Ontario government announced a third extension of school closures in many regions of the province. This comes despite all the facts that show that schools are safe. The government's decision to do so is, in all honesty, an irresponsible and unreasonable thing to do.

I am currently a grade 12 student in Ontario. When the first extension of the closures was announced on January 7, I knew I had to do something to stand up for students and parents to fight this unreasonable decision. That is why I started the Reopen Ontario's Schools campaign, which is calling on the government to give students the option to safely return to school.

What I find concerning is that last spring, the government initially closed schools for two weeks, to slow the spread after March break. However, it then extended that closure again and again until it announced that schools would remain closed for the rest of the school year.

Students in Quebec were given the option to safely return to class in the spring, with this move caused no major observable problems. In fact, all students in Quebec are now safely back in school—this is the case for every other Canadian province, making Ontario the only jurisdiction in the country where schools are closed for in-person learning.

When the Ontario Government announced a temporary school closure in December, Education Minister Stephen Lecce promised parents that this would be a one-time measure, and students would be back in school on January 11. However, that has now changed, making his letter and pledge a meaningless and empty gesture.

Keeping schools closed has had negative impacts on students, parents, and communities at large, something which we've seen since the spring. Many serious problems emerged from those closures, including a rise in anxiety, depression, childhood obesity, eating disorders, and domestic violence. 83 percent of teens said their mental health has decreased, and 20 percent of students have dealt with high stress levels. One-in-four young persons has contemplated suicide, and prescriptions for antidepressant medication has increased by 34 percent.

Closing schools has negatively impacted the academics of the majority of students. Online learning does not provide a quality education, and as a result grade averages, attendance, and completion rates have dropped. The situation in Ontario’s high schools was so bad that the government had to change its grading policy so that the grades students obtained while learning at home didn't bring down their final grade. Students also missed out on crucial learning opportunities.

Studies have also found that minorities, poor people, and women are the most impacted by these closures. Female leaders who have kids often need a place for them to be while they are at work, and students in poor communities need to be able to study in order to live a better life in the future. Removing those opportunities by closing schools and will only widen societal gaps that society is working so hard to close.

One campaign has received testimonies from students and parents, which we have put up on our website. One mother writes, "I am a government employee currently working from home, who has an 8 year old daughter with special needs. I work until 5 or 6 pm (with constant interruptions from my daughter who often needs help with technology and the work that she is supposed to be doing), then try to get some exercise (though often we don't have time for that), eat dinner, and then I help her with her assignments until 11 pm (because she is always behind), and we go to bed by midnight, both exhausted. I cannot keep up with my work and her homework, no matter how hard I try. I feel like I have two full-time jobs, and I'm not sufficiently efficient and productive at either one."

Science and data have shown that schools are safe during the pandemic. The measures that have been put in place like daily screening, social distancing, masks, hand hygiene, and frequent surface disinfection, have proven to be effective. A large number of schools remained completely free from any COVID-19 cases after reopening in September.

According to data from the Government of Ontario, COVID-19 only impacted 0.3 percent of Ontario’s 2 million students, and most of those students caught COVID-19 in the community. A study showed that 87 percent of the students that came to school with COVID-19 after contracting it in the community did not transmit it to anyone. Meaning only 0.00039 percent of Ontario students transmitted COVID-19 to their peers or teachers.

A study in the BMC Medical Journal found that school closures in the spring, when students were not wearing masks or distancing, had very little impact on stopping the spread of COVID-19. Keeping schools open in the spring would have only increased ICU capacity by 6.3 percent to 9.1 percent, which means at best a dozen or so beds province wide.

Unfortunately, it seems the facts, data, and science do not matter to Doug Ford, Stephen Lecce, and Dr. David Williams. It makes me wonder how much longer parents and students will have to suffer from the government realizes their optics game might not be worth it.

It is time for the Ontario government to look at the facts and allow students to safely return to school for in-person learning.  If you agree with me, please visit check out my campaign and sign the petition. Also contact your MPP and School Trustees to let them know these closures have to end.