The Ford government has secured agreements to allow education support workers not involved in distance learning to work in long-term care homes, hospitals, and other congregate settings needing personnel due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
But Education Minister Stephen Lecce said more news on when schools will resume will come “early next week.”
Custodians, educational assistants, social workers and other staff will now be able to volunteer to work in those settings, filling gaps caused by illness in existing staff in those facilities, five of which have needed help from the Canadian Forces in order to stay operational.
“The response has been overwhelming – our schoolboards – trustee associations and trade unions, have agreed to redeploy education workers who aren’t currently involved in at home learning,” Premier Ford said.
The province is working on an online portal to solicit volunteers.
Any worker will continue to be paid by their original employer, and will be provided with personal protective equipment.
They can stop volunteering at any time, Ford said.
Health Minister Christine Elliott said the redeployment is just another option to bring workers to areas hit hard by COVID-19 infection.
“It doesn’t mean we’re going to do anything with it now – it’s a tool in our toolkit if we need it,” she said.
Education Minister Stephen Lecce said there is one example of redeployment already in action, with some education workers working in a hospital in Kenora, Ont.
He said the public shouldn’t take this program to mean that reopening schools is still a long ways away.
“I wouldn’t read into it at all,” he said.
Lecce said they will make an announcement about the future of the school year early next week.
“Parents can absolutely expect an outcome, we plan to do this by early next week, and the reason why is we are waiting for updated modelling from the Chief Medical Officer and the command table.”
He said they have been waiting to glean more about the virus’ impact on kids.
“I appreciate for parents out there, for educators and kids, they want to know the plan, and they deserve to know the plan. But our duty is to make sure we land in a place that is consistent with the values of families in this province which is that safety must come first.”
He said the plan they announce next week will concern “both the decision for June as well as the intention to scale up in a significant way a learning program for the summer to keep our kids engaged.”
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