The decision was made in a marathon meeting last week. The HWDSB is now Ontario’s lone board to have an active masking mandate. Photo credit: Reading Eagle
Hamilton’s public school board (HWDSB) trustees have once again put in place a mask mandate for staff and students. The decision was made at a Monday, December 5 board meeting that lasted over three hours.
The requirement came into effect on Monday of this week at all schools.
It should be noted that the mandate, which is being called a “temporary universal masking requirement,” allows the “unrestricted option to opt-out.”
The board says that a parent, guardian, or caregiver can complete the “Mask Opt-Out Form” on the board’s “Parent Portal” or verbally inform their child’s school that they want to opt-out.
A letter to parents also mentions that signage will be displayed in schools and classrooms to “raise awareness” about mask-wearing in HWDSB schools. It is unclear at this time what messages will be written on those signs.
The letter also reads that the requirement is “intended to be supportive, not punitive.”
But the opt-out option only came as a compromise after some trustees were calling for a stricter mandate.
Newly elected Ward 15 trustee Graeme Noble brought forward an initial motion that called for strict masking measures. Noble’s motion was defeated. Paul Tut, Sabreina Dahab, Elizabeth Wong, and Maria Felix Miller all voiced support for Noble’s motion.
Ward 2 trustee Dahab said at a previous meeting that “children are dying and…we can change the course of what happens” by implementing a strong mask mandate.
Trustee Todd White then brought forward a new motion that included an opt-out. That motion passed 7-3.
The three dissenting trustees to White’s motion were Kathy Archer, Becky Buck, and Amanda Fehrman.
Buck said that she fears “unintended consequences, including undue stress for our staff and students” by bringing back a mandate, even with an opt-out option.
The masking requirement is in place until a board meeting on January 16, 2023, when a decision will be made on whether or not to renew the policy.
Board chair Dawn Danko said that the trustees were “not looking for a mandate,” but “looking to improve masking” which is why an opt-out option is included.
Interestingly, The Hamilton Spectator editorial board weighed in on the issue. They wrote a strongly worded column in favour of the board’s new mandate, published Saturday, December 10, but said that the policy did not go far enough.
“Our position, as usual, is to support the strongest possible public health measures,” read the Spectator’s column.
The Hamilton public school board was famously at the centre of a similar controversy in March 2022 involving their mask mandate. Trustees voted on March 10, 2022, to keep a masking mandate at its schools, despite the Province of Ontario dropping all requirements.
School boards do not have the authority to unilaterally create their own enforceable public health measures and trustees reversed the original motion by replacing it with a more watered-down masking recommendation.
As of December 12, the HWDSB is the only school board in Ontario to have an active masking requirement.
Based in Hamilton, Ontario, Kevin Geenen reaches hundreds of thousands of people monthly on social media. He is a regular contributor with The Hamilton Independent and has been published in The Hamilton Spectator, Stoney Creek News, and Bay Observer. He has also been a segment host with Cable 14 Hamilton. He is known for Hamilton Neighbourhood Watch crime updates and no-nonsense news graphics. In 2017, he received the Chancellor Full Tuition Scholarship from the University of Ottawa and later graduated with a Bachelor of Arts. He also received the Governor General’s Academic Medal from Governor General David Johnston and formerly worked in a non-partisan role on Parliament Hill in Ottawa. He is currently employed as an Office Administrator at RE/MAX Escarpment. His journalistic work is independent of his other positions.
Based in Hamilton, he reaches hundreds of thousands of people monthly on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and Twitter. He has been published in The Hamilton Spectator, Stoney Creek News, and Bay Observer. He has also been a segment host with Cable 14 Hamilton. In 2017, he received the Chancellor Full Tuition Scholarship from the University of Ottawa (BA, 2022). He has also received the Governor General’s Academic Medal. He formerly worked in a non-partisan role on Parliament Hill in Ottawa.
