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Advocates have expressed concerns for students and educators in Ontario classrooms as the province enters a major heat wave this week.
Environment Canada said Monday a heat wave descending on parts of Ontario this week is expected to bring dangerously high temperatures, some as hot as 45 C with the humidity.
Despite the soaring temperatures, students can still expect to attend their regular classes.
Earlier today, the Toronto District School Board (TDSB) announced that schools will remain open during a heat warning despite “uncomfortable conditions” in some schools without air conditioning.
Advocates and parent groups have raised safety concerns on behalf of students and education workers attending school during the heat wave.
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Mary Jo Nabuurs, director of media relations and outreach at Ontario School Safety, a volunteer-led organization fighting for safe, in-person education, says that if the ministry truly prioritizes students and education workers being present at school, then having air conditioning during times like this is essential.
“Addressing air issues in schools should be paramount for the Ministry of Education,” she told National Post “It’s just we’ve learned long enough now it’s time to do something”
“We have the tools and the infrastructure. We just need the will to fund it — because they fund it in their own offices all the time.”
However, Nabuurs did acknowledge that there’s “a big infrastructure backlog.”
A spokesperson for the Ontario Minister of Education told CTV News Toronto that the government has made significant investments in the school boards, but it is up to them to allocate funding.
Toronto District School Board spokesperson Shari Schwartz-Maltz told CTV News Toronto on Monday that the board has 177 new schools with air conditioning, but it’s not financially feasible to air condition all of its schools.
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“I know someone in our group whose daughter has been diagnosed with asthma now, [which] is a challenge when it’s extremely hot – and this child had to leave school early because of it,” Nabuurs said.
Nabuurs added that academic performance and mental health can improve when air quality is improved and that poor air quality makes students groggier and causes them to fall behind.
Ontario Green Party Deputy Leader Aislinn Clancy issued a news release on Monday saying lack of access to cool classrooms affects students’ and education workers’ well-being and creates extreme risks for those with pre-existing health conditions.
Nabuurs says that until the government prioritizes schools the same way it prioritizes other institutions, children and education workers will continue to suffer.
“I think what we have to do is ask them, Why? Because, again, they know better, and they’re doing it for themselves.”
“It isn’t the kids who are sick,” Nabuurs said. “It’s the structures they’re learning in.”
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