Eight administrators with the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board (OCDSB) voted in favor of a proposal by River / Gloucester-Southgate administrator Mark Fisher, while one administrator opposed the move and three abstained. “We can not choose when security is important,” said Fischer, defending his proposal Tuesday night. The vote came three weeks after the province removed most of the mask orders, but amid a resurgence of COVID-19 in Ottawa. The city has recently set a record for the amount of coronavirus observed in local wastewater. In a statement to CBC News earlier this week, Ottawa Public Health said it strongly recommends that people cover indoors and supports measures to increase mask use. “I think the situation in Ottawa has changed significantly in the last two weeks,” Fisher said. The school board, which represents more than 70,000 elementary and high school students, had 113 self-reported cases of COVID-19 between staff and students as of Tuesday, according to Brett Reynolds, the council’s deputy director of education. Several administrators talked about closed classes or schools in their areas. NOTE: Administrators of the Ottawa-Carleton County School Board, the city’s largest school council, have just voted in favor of restoring masks to schools in the area. pic.twitter.com/bJsIwNoJ0s – @ gqinott
CHEO, the Eastern Ontario Children’s Hospital in Ottawa, had five COVID-19 patients as of late Monday, all of whom were admitted for reasons other than COVID-19. Barrhaven / Knoxdale-Merivale representative Donna Blackburn voted against Fisher’s proposal, saying the mask was not needed in many other parts of society. “I refuse to give people a false sense of security,” he said of imposing masks on schools. “I believe that implementing this will force more people to wear masks,” said Rideau-Vanier / Capital representative Lyra Evans, who voted in favor of the proposal. How quickly the move will be implemented is unclear, as Fisher’s move did not include a start date. A spokesman for the board said after the meeting that staff were developing an implementation plan and would “provide further clarifications soon”.

The previous bid to keep the mask failed

Tuesday night’s meeting marked the second time in recent weeks that the mask was in front of and in the spotlight at an OCDSB meeting.
Before the province lifted the mask orders on March 21, the administrators thought of extending the mandatory mask until April 8 for the kindergarten until the 12th grade, but ultimately did not have the votes to defy the province. The proposal of March 14 did not pass with a tie, with six against and six in favor. Prime Minister Doug Ford has spoken out against school boards wishing to follow their own path to the mask. “The chief physician is the specialist,” Ford said last month, adding that Dr. Kieran Moore did his due diligence ending the mask. “Follow the instructions of the chief physician, clearly and simply. This is what we expect and hope they will do.” Ottawa Center NDP MPP Joel Harden called on the Ford government to restore coverage, citing recent Ottawa sewage data.