The leader of Ontario's Liberal Party said he had heard a lot of concern about the government's back-to-school plan.
Steven Del Duca was in Windsor Thursday to take part in several roundtable discussions. One of them took place at the downtown Windsor office of the Elementary Teachers Federation of Ontario (ETFO), which represents the province's English-language elementary educators and support staff.
Del Duca told BlackburnNewsWindsor.com that the teachers and union officials he heard from are echoing the same concerns he's been hearing for some time.
"I really appreciate them taking the time. It was very clear that they are anxious," said Del Duca. "They have concerns. [Everyone] that I've spoken with, not only today but in a previous number of weeks, feel that Doug Ford needs to go back to the drawing board and come back with a plan that will actually help us get the job done right."
Del Duca said one big gripe he's heard is about the government not placing a cap on elementary school class sizes, and he said much more needs to be done to make sure that the students and teachers are safe and not risking a recurrence of COVID-19.
"We know right now, and depending on the school year and on which particular part of the Windsor-Essex region you're in, in our elementary grades, you can see kids in a class of up to 25, up to 28, up to 30, and no plan to help cap those class sizes," said Del Duca.
On Thursday afternoon, Education Minister Stephen Lecce did announce over half-a-billion dollars in support funding for school boards to work on physical distancing. The Ministry also put out a memorandum for school boards guiding them on remote learning for parents who decide not to send kids to school in-person.
Del Duca said he and his wife have not yet decided on whether to send their children to school or have them learn at home, but he said Premier Doug Ford is missing one key point.
"What I'm really looking for is for Doug Ford to fully understand that when you are a premier of Ontario, your two fundamental responsibilities are public health care and public education," said Del Duca. "We need leadership from him on this, in this critical moment."