Hamilton schools are safe, parents told amid rising COVID case counts

As the number of COVID-19 cases in Hamilton grows, so do the concerns of many families with kids returning to the classroom in September.

With about two weeks until the start of school, Hamilton's public and Catholic board chairs joined city staff at a media briefing Monday with a message to parents: Schools are safe.

All of the measures that were put in place last year will be repeated, and as well significant improvements as compared to last year in terms of HVAC, the level of vaccination," said Hamilton-Wentworth Catholic District School Board (HWCDSB) chair Pat Daly. Parents can really be assured that schools are safe."

Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board (HWDSB) chair Dawn Danko said schools have in place multiple layers of protection."

I would encourage families to ... be reminded that we did get through much of last year with these layers of protection," Danko said. We will continue to monitor the status in Hamilton and in our schools, and be responsive to that."

Starting Sept. 8, most Hamilton students - about 97 per cent - will be in the classroom full-time five days a week, with elementary students in cohorts and secondary students following the quadmester model. Masking is mandatory for students starting in Grade 1 provincewide, and starting in kindergarten at Hamilton school boards. Upgraded ventilation and filtration systems are expected to improve air quality in buildings.

While vaccines - another layer of protection - are available for youth ages 12 to 17, many will not be vaccinated before school starts in the fall. Vaccination rates in Hamilton, including among youth, are lagging compared to the rest of the province.

As of Aug. 23, nearly 60 per cent of youth ages 12 to 17 were fully vaccinated and about 73 per cent had a first dose.

Richardson said it's important to balance risks of in-person learning with those of remote learning - mental health, social development, emotional well-being."

No part of life is risk-free," said Dr. Elizabeth Richardson, Hamilton's medical officer of health. What we're trying to do is ensure that we have as safe an environment as possible for students, for teachers, for anybody who's part of the school community."

In partnership with school boards, Hamilton public health is attempting to make vaccination more convenient with mobile clinics at area secondary schools. In addition, Ontario has expanded the eligibility to anyone born in 2009.

The province announced Aug. 17 plans to introduce a vaccine disclosure policy for employees in Ontario schools. Trustee Alex Johnstone is expected to put forward a motion at Monday's board meeting to expand that policy to HWDSB trustees.

The potential impact of reopening schools on case counts is unclear. But Richardson said it is overall mobility" - not just schools - that contribute to virus spread.

When people are back to school, there's a lot of other things that happen as well," she said. People going back and forth, running errands on the way to and from school."

Richardson didn't say whether there is a threshold at which schools would close should cases continue to rise, but said public health would be looking at what is happening locally."

Our absolute hope is that this doesn't ever have to happen again," she said.

Richardson said there may be instances where a transient dismissal of a cohort" or a short-term closure of a particular school" are necessary to mitigate virus spread.

We're really hoping that anything more widespread isn't necessary," she said. But again, that's why we need those vaccination numbers to go up and as well to continue to use public health measures as we go into this fall."

CLARIFICATION: This article has been updated to clarify that masks are mandatory for all students from kindergarten to Grade 12 at Hamilton's public and Catholic school boards.

Kate McCullough is a Hamilton-based reporter covering education at The Spectator. Reach her via email: kmccullough@thespec.com