I wanted to make a short thread about some of my takeaways from our ‘Ventilation & COVID19 Town Hall’ that we held last night. We received excellent feedback from @dfisman and @DavidElfstrom and I hope they will jump in if I mischaracterize any of their advice.
#onted
#tcdsb

Teachers should be vaccinated before we return to school. It’s the only way to be fully protected in a
Classroom.

Since students can’t currently be vaccinated, PPE is crucial for the safety of EVERYONE. The current ‘medical grade’ masks staff are using are NOT effective (they are meant to protect from fluid transmission). Properly fitted, quality, masks are needed for staff AND students.

I asked about masks for kids. David Elfstrom suggested looking at this type: https://twitter.com/DavidElfstrom/status/1386853408053862403?s=20

Hepa filters are required for air safety. David Elfstrom recommended 3-4 ideally per classroom space: https://twitter.com/DavidElfstrom/status/1386855068629094400?s=20

Desk shields are NOT providing protection against COVID transmission.

*Personal note* I appreciated the speedy efforts by our trustees and staff to get us anything that could make us safer. But please, now that we know they don’t help, don’t spend another dime on them.

Board staff are incredibly constrained in terms of designing and maintaining our school infrastructure. That constraint is primarily budgetary.

Giving our board staff the appropriate funding means a Provincial govt that is serious about fixing and improving our schools.

This lack of funding is not simply limited to our current govt. Sure, @fordnation refusing $100 million for school repairs for ideological reasons was not a great sign. But other, more ‘education-friendly’ govts have also failed to provide the infrastructure funding.

We will need not only to remove a govt that seems intent on sabotaging our system. We will also need to prove to the next govt that closing the funding gap is a high priority for all Ontarians.