THUNDER BAY – The head of the Lakehead Elementary Teachers Federation of Ontario bargaining unit says postponing March Break until April isn’t ideal.
But it’s better than some of the alternatives that were being floated around.
Education Minister Stephen Lecce on Thursday announced the annual week-long break is being shifted in 2021, from a scheduled March 15 start, until April 12.
Mike Judge said teachers will adapt to the new, temporary reality, though it’s certainly not ideal for many educators or students, given the pressures of the pandemic.
“What’s not ideal is a disregard for the mental health of our students and the mental health of our staff. It’s a long stretch and we’re in conditions where there is no social distancing. People might not realize that we have classes of 30-to-1 and our students are less than a metre apart,” Judge said, “never mind the six feet we recommend to everyone in society.
“That takes a heavy toll. There’s a heavy burden on our staff.”
The fear of burnout is real, he added.
“For that to be completely ignored is frustrating.”
A.J. Keene, superintendent of education at Lakehead Public Schools, said it was fairly apparent the move was coming, adding he’s happy to see it was a postponement and not an outright cancellation.
At the end of the day, the decision was out of their hands, made instead by the province with direction from public health officials like Dr. David Williams, the chief medical officer of health for Ontario.
“Obviously the officials felt it was the best thing to do to keep our kids safe, so we’ll do what we need to, to support that,” Keene said.
Like Judge, Keene is also concerned about the burnout factor for teachers who in many cases are now teaching both online and in class.
“It’s been a long winter and it’s been a longer winter than it normally is. March Break is a natural time when kids look forward to maybe a little bit warmer weather. We’ve been fortunate with our weather, but this past week we’ve been shown how awful it can be with indoor recesses,” Keene said.
“Kids and staff are stressed at the best of times and during COVID, it’s even worse. We do have strong mental-health supports, with our mental-health lead, Megan Tiernan, and she provides it to staff and students and families ... I would say the burnout and angst about this is very real.”
The decision has left administrators scrambling a bit to re-schedule the remainder of the school year, moving anything scheduled for the new spring break dates into other time slots. Some schools had testing scheduled for the week of April 12.
The province said it made the decision to move March Break as a way to limit community spread of COVID-19.
Students in Thunder Bay have been able to remain in class throughout most of the current school year.
