Toothless 'mask requirement' approved by TVDSB after meandering debate
CTV
Public school trustees with the Thames Valley District School Board (TVDSB) have approved a mask “requirement” that can not and will not be enforced.
Public school trustees with the Thames Valley District School Board (TVDSB) have approved a mask “requirement” that can not and will not be enforced.
On Tuesday evening, trustees spent the better part of two hours debating and trying to wordsmith a motion intended to temporarily increase the number of students, teachers and staff that wear masks during the sixth wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Help each other ride this wave down. And this motion is an opportunity to do just that,” explained Trustee Corrine Rahman who drafted the motion based on language in the Ottawa-Carleton School Board’s new mask requirement.
Specifically the motion reads, “that the Director [of Education] require from an Occupational Health and Safety perspective, mask use for all students, staff and visitors in all TVDSB buildings until such a time as Public Health Ontario updates this guidance, or the local public health units in TVDSB explicitly advise otherwise.”
Exemptions would not require medical documentation.
The school board’s lawyer warned, however, that they lack the authority to enforce an indoor mask requirement after the provincial government lifted its mandate last month.
“Prior to March 21 there were certain steps that could be taken, but after March 21 there is no enforcement mechanism,” explained TVDSB General Legal Counsel Ali Chahbar.
