Push for mandatory masking for all students fails at Windsor-Essex public board meeting

An attempt to have the Greater Essex County District School Board make masks mandatory for all students failed Tuesday night after the motion was ruled out of order.

But confusion over the state of the motion and procedural ruling meant there was still speakers heard on it before the trustees were told the item was off the agenda.

The motion, brought forward by Greater Essex County District School Board trustee Julia Burgess, sought to have all students, not just those in grades 4 and up as mandated by the province, wear masks. A similar motion had been made and turned down in August, just prior to the start of the 2020 school year. 

The motion on Tuesday was deemed to be a reconsideration of that earlier failed one and so Burgess wasn't able to move it forward. She expressed frustration and disappointment at the outcome but said she had to accept the decision of the board.

"There was a real call for this to be discussed ... we've certainly had calls to revisit it." 

During the meeting, local president of the Elementary Teachers' Federation of Ontario Mario Spagnuolo said he wasn't aware that the item had been cut from the agenda prior to the meeting and decided to join the call as a speaker to bring the issue back to light. 

Spagnuolo strongly advocated for trustees to reconsider the motion, noting that "the more layers we have, the safer our buildings can be. There is no risk-free solution to COVID, the trustees have a moral obligation to mitigate." 

"I implore you trustees to make a decision that will protect the very people in your care, there's no financial cost to the school board and it benefits the system, it benefits the community, it benefits teachers, support staff, students and their families," he said. 

Another speaker on this item, parent Chantelle Meadows, said she has a five-year-old and pleaded the board to implement mandatory masking. 

"Our families and those most vulnerable are at risk and the board can be part of the solution ... we need our children to be safe, we need our educators to be safe, we all want to be safe," she said. 

After the issue was discussed, board chairperson Alicia Higgison clarified that since the item had been struck down prior to the livestreamed meeting, they would move on to the next item. 

Higgison told CBC News after the meeting that the board is following the advice of public health, which has stated on its website that it encourages mask wearing for younger ages but does not require it, and that if public health advice shifts the board will "shift with it." 

Windsor-Essex public school had province's largest outbreak

Prior to the meeting, Burgess told CBC News that with the second wave and upcoming holidays, now is the best time to implement this measure. 

"We know that masks work. We know that when everybody is masked, it works even better. So it's a reduction, but not an elimination of risk," she said. "It's just one more bit of a reduction of risk for our employees, for other students, for families in our community." 

Currently there are three school outbreaks in the region, two of which are at public schools, including: 

• Frank W. Begley, which is set to reopen on Wednesday. 
• General Brock Public School
• Corpus Christi Catholic Middle School - Central Park Athletics Campus

Last month, Frank W. Begley Public School was the province's largest COVID-19 outbreak at a school, with 40 students and nine staff testing positive for the disease. 

The public board has had a total of 90 COVID-19 cases since the start of the school year. 

Spagnuolo, who has been advocating for mandatory masking of all students for a while, said it's important as we're seeing COVID-19 cases and outbreaks in schools continue to rise. 

"The provincial government has not changed the class size issue. They're continuing with large class sizes. There is no way that we can maintain two metre distancing in our schools. So what can we do differently, that's cost effective? Wearing a mask is cost effective. It's easy." 

Epidemiologist says more pros than cons

Epidemiologist and professor emeritus Tim Sly at Ryerson's School of Public Health told CBC News Tuesday that there's more pros than cons to having young children wear masks. 

Top of mind for Sly was that kids, though they may not show symptoms of COVID-19, can spread the virus to others in their household. 

"From a public health point of view ... we do see children as being potentially able to spread it around a little. They very rarely actually suffer from any symptoms. But it is a mixing bowl. I mean, every classroom is a kind of a little petri dish where one can give it to another and they may not even know it at all," he said.

"But what an awful responsibility for the kids to realize that they were the ones who brought the virus home and poor granddad got it or great-aunt." 

While some may be worried about younger kids requiring facial expressions to communicate, Sly said psychologists have actually pointed out that kids will adapt and work around this. 

The main thing, he added, is that when two people are in contact and are both wearing masks, the risk of transmission drops "down to single digits" percentage-wise. 

As for parents who might disagree, Sly said it's really about looking at what's best for others. 

"When your rights affect other people, other people's relatives, other people's frail and sensitive people, then those other people's rights to be protected far outweigh your individual rights to do what you want to do. And I think that's the message there," he said. 

All students wearing masks in other Ontario school boards

Other municipalities in Ontario, including boards in Toronto, Guelph and Waterloo, have mandated masking for all students. 

These regions did so to curb the spread of the virus at the beginning of the school year.