Masks required again at London's largest school board

Masks are now a requirement for staff, students and visitors at all schools within the London region's largest school board. 

Trustees with the Thames Valley District School Board (TVDSB) voted on a motion to reintroduce mask Tuesday night with the vote passing seven to five in favour.

School board trustees first had to decide if they had the authority to vote on a mandate, a decision they made ahead of the vote. 

Once that procedural decision was ironed out, much of the discussion centred around how a mandate would be carried out, and by whom.

"I believe that this motion creates conflict between the direction of the ministry and the direction [of the board] to require masks, when the ministry has said we do not require masks," said trustee Sean Hunt. 

"I don't believe it's enforceable, and I'm unclear how this is within our authority." 

Trustees Sherri Moore and Corrine Rahman countered that having board direction on masks would be common sense from a health and safety perspective. 

"I don't agree that it's outside of our purview," said Moore. "I think it's clearly an issue of achievement and wellbeing. Because if we can't keep the schools open, that's going to have an impact on both." 

Rahman noted that other school boards in Ontario have taken it upon themselves to implement mandates.

Last week, the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board also voted to reintroduce a mask mandate. Schools across the region, including at the TVDSB have been experiencing staffing shortages due to illness related to COVID-19 infections. 

"So we're seeing differences of opinion," said Rahman. 

The province lifted mandatory masking in classrooms in mid-March. Since then, Thames Valley schools have had 10 per cent — or about 1,000 — staffers out with COVID-19 or in quarantine. Two schools had to move to remote learning because there weren't enough teachers, and other schools have reported 20 per cent absences. 

The board mulled over how a mask mandate would be defined and enforced. They opted to replace the word "mandate" with "require." 

Students are not required to submit medication documentation for exemptions.