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Home My WebLink AboutLetter to the Ministers-Approval and Endorsement of Masks October 2021 Office of the Chair of the Board 27 October 2021 The Honourable Stephen Lecce Minister of Education 438 University Ave, 5th Floor Toronto, Ontario M7A 1N3 The Honourable Monte McNaughton Minister of Labour, Training and Skills Development 400 University Avenue 14th Floor Toronto, Ontario M7A 1T7 Dear Ministers Lecce and McNaughton: At its meeting of 26 October 2021, the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board approved the following motion: THAT the Chair of the OCDSB write a letter requesting that the Ministry of Education and Ministry of Labour consider the approval and endorsement of masking better than level 2, and that the Ministry of Education fund this enhanced PPE for all staff and students across Ontario. Early in the course of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Ontario government took action to procure and supply face masks to school districts as part of its efforts to contain the spread of the virus, for which we are very grateful. At that time, however, good quality respirators were in very short supply and had to be reserved for healthcare workers. Also at that time, it was not well understood that COVID-19 can spread by aerosol transmission. Now that there is much greater availability of quality respirators, and now that much more is understood about the transmission of COVID-19 through the air, it is time to give serious consideration to upgrading the masks that are used in the school setting. With much appreciation for your immediate attention to this matter. Sincerely, Lynn Scott Chair, Ottawa-Carleton District School Boardcc:Dr. Vera Etches, Medical Officer of Health, Ottawa Public Health Cathy Abraham, President, OPSBA W.R. (Rusty) Hick, Executive Director, OPSBA T.J Goertz, Senior Communication and Policy Officer OPSBA and All English Public Chairs Trustees, Ottawa-Carleton District School Board Senior Staff, Ottawa-Carleton District School Board Corporate Records /!-- This code was added to remove the metadata from document view in Weblink -->