Students and staff can expect stricter COVID measures at Hamilton schools this fall

Hamilton public health says school boards will impose stricter COVID-19 measures than what the province is requiring amid rising case counts and lagging vaccination rates in the city.

With COVID-19 case counts and outbreaks increasing in Hamilton, additional health and safety requirements will be required in schools to mitigate the risk of further spread in our community," spokesperson James Berry said in an email to The Spectator.

On Thursday, Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board (HWDSB) chair Dawn Danko said the board is working with public health to determine what the requirements will be.

We've noticed that some of the measures we took last year have been scaled back or lifted," Danko told The Spectator. Local public health units can require additional or enhanced health and safety measures based on our local experience, based on our local data that go beyond that guidance document."

Danko said the board is considering reintroducing masks and cohorting students at recess, having staff wear masks at recess, restricting or limiting in-person staff meetings, and introducing masks at a minimum" for indoor singing.

Protocols for team sports is another area the board is reviewing.

As a school determines these are the sports we're going to offer ... then our athletics department is going to look at it sport by sport to say, How can we do this safely?'" she said.

Take basketball, for example, which Danko said would likely be considered high contact."

Do we offer it with masks? And if you can't wear masks, then we can't offer it? That's the type of discussion that public health is having with staff and with the athletics departments," she said. We're certainly trying to be creative."

Existing provincial guidance indicates that masking is encouraged for indoor sports where they can be worn safely based on the activity." Masks are not required for sports played outside.

In an email to The Spectator, Hamilton-Wentworth Catholic District School Board (HWCDSB) chair Pat Daly said staff continue to meet regularly with regard to school reopening and various health and safety measures."

If public health directs certain measures, all school boards are required to follow," he said.

Protocols at both boards are expected to be finalized early next week.

Last year, restrictions were much tighter. Common spaces were restricted, and most sports, music and extracurriculars cancelled. In-person field trips and experiential learning were not allowed, and many co-op placements were cancelled. Students had to wear masks both indoors and outdoors, and had recess with their cohort.

We're seriously thinking about keeping some of these measures in place," said HWDSB education director Manny Figueiredo. The more mobile we are, the more transmission there is."

For months, experts have said COVID rates in schools reflect what's going on in the community. Some experts have said decisions around specific activities, like choir and sports, should happen at the local level.

Hamilton's medical officer of health, Dr. Elizabeth Richardson, said at a media briefing Monday that COVID activity in Hamilton is now similar to November 2020.

I think the No. 1 thing we are thinking about right now is that the guidance document was created ... in July when the numbers were very different," said Figueiredo.

The document was released to the public in early August.

Hamilton boards have already taken additional steps to protect students, such as requiring masks for all students from kindergarten to Grade 12 and using provincial and reserve funding to lower class sizes to improve the ability to physically distance.

The HWDSB is projecting class size averages of 22 to 23 in kindergarten, 19 to 20 in Grades 1 to 3 and 23 to 24 in Grades 4 to 8. The Catholic board says it is still finalizing its numbers.

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