Whatever your views on school openings in Ontario, leaving the decisions and planning with school board trustees who seem to have minimal access to relevant expertise and guidelines is contrary to everything we've been hearing from the ON govt about 'following the evidence'.

In the absence of clear direction from the province based on relevant public health, pediatric, and socio-economic considerations, parents might be concerned that trustees are making decisions based on whatever they're reading on Facebook.

Maybe the experts and evidence are strongly in favour of very limited school openings. It would give parents more faith in the decisions being made if that was transparently the case, as opposed to a trustee acting based on what they read about so and so school in Tx or Israel.

My layperson read based on things the Premier has said since March is that he won't run the risk of a low-likehood, high impact school outbreak. As he's said in other contexts: he just won't do it. Rightly or wrongly, this appears to be risk aversion rather than risk management.

The reason that only schools seem to be getting this risk avoidance approach also seems to stem from a mix of politics and emotion.

The Premier doesn't want to be responsible for a school outbreak, politically or personally.

How this risk avoidance approach is sustainable for the next 2-infinity *years* we're probably living with COVID is beyond me.

"oh but we'll pay CERB to parents who lose income owing the lack of full schooling"

*Looks at the federal deficit announcement*

Anyway, trying to follow a sympathetically cynical approach to understanding what might be going on with the Premier and Minister's approach.

Nobody wants outbreaks in schools. But leaving them at home 3 days a week doesn't seem to be the best approach here.