The vote came only a day after the Ontario government announced it was lifting mask mandates across the province. Photo credit: Pexels/Rodnae Productions
The Ontario government recently announced that it will be lifting mask mandates province-wide in most settings, including schools, on Monday, March 21.
However, at a special board meeting held last Thursday, Hamilton-Wentworth Public School Board (HWDSB) trustees voted to defy the province and keep the masking mandate in place for students and staff until Friday, April 15.
Individual school boards do not have the authority to unilaterally create their own public health measures. Those decisions rest with the Ministry of Education, local public health units, and the Ministry of Health. Therefore, the motion is not legally enforceable. It remains unclear what would happen should the board decide to enforce it regardless, but it’s been suggested that enforcement would leave the board legally susceptible to union challenges or human rights complaints.
The Ministry of Education released a statement Friday making it clear that despite trustees’ opinions on the matter “school boards in this province are expected to implement this cautious plan” to remove mask mandates on March 21.
The statement also notes that “Ontario is among one of the last provinces in Canada to lift mask mandates” and that the ministry is “continuing to invest heavily to improve air ventilation by deploying an additional 49,000 HEPA units to schools and child care centers.”
The ministry specifies that its goal in lifting the mandates is to “get students back to more normal classrooms with strong protections in place” and that the return to more normalcy is critical to student mental health.
While the Hamilton public board voiced its clear opposition to the removal of mandatory masking, the Hamilton-Wentworth Catholic District Board (HWCDSB) appears to have no issue with the province’s decision. The catholic board sent a letter to parents on Thursday stating that “the announcement [to lift masking mandates on March 21] is yet another sign of a return to normalcy and cause for hope.”
The desire of public board trustees to extend the masking mandate by three weeks appears to be motivated by worries about students and staff traveling during March break (which runs from March 12-March 20) and potentially spreading COVID upon return to class. But federal travel regulations already require that those returning from international travel must wear a mask for 14 days after their return.
In terms of enforcement of the public board’s decision, HWDSB Chair Dawn Danko said that the board is in “active discussions” with the Ministry of Education regarding the matter, but the ministry has made clear on Friday that the rules will not be changing.
One other option for the board is to convince the local public health unit, Hamilton Public Health, to issue a Section 22 order which gives the health unit the power to invoke additional measures, such as masking, beyond what the province stipulates.
HWDSB has directed Danko to write a letter to Hamilton Public Health asking if the health unit would consider invoking a Section 22 order to continue masking in schools for an extra three weeks.
But that too appears unlikely since the local public health unit said Friday while it “respects the HWDSB’s decision to maintain a masking mandate for students and staff until April 15th” it trusts that the school board “will work with the Ministry of Education concerning the decision.”
It should be noted that universities, colleges, and private schools are not under the direct control of the Ministry of Education and are thus able to come up with their own public health policies. For example, McMaster University, Brock University and Mohawk College have all said they will keep their masking requirements until at least the end of the winter term on April 30.
As for school boards under the Ministry of Education’s control, namely the HWDSB and HWCDSB, as it stands now, masking mandates will be lifted on Monday, March 21 for both staff and students despite efforts to extend the timeline.
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.
