Waterloo region, Wellington County school boards to lift masking mandate 

School boards in Waterloo region and Wellington County are following the Ontario government's lead when it comes to lifting mask requirements. 

Starting March 21, the following school boards will no longer require students to wear masks: 

• Waterloo Region District School Board (WRDSB). 
• Waterloo Catholic District School Board (WCDSB). 
• Upper Grand District School Board (UGDSB). 
• Wellington Catholic District School Board (WCDSB). 
• Conseil scolaire Viamonde.

Students are still welcome to wear masks if they choose, the boards have said. 

More time needed

In a WRDSB meeting on Friday, trustees received legal advice recommending the school board fall in line with the provincial measure. A directive to lift the masking mandate was passed in a 4-1 vote, with five trustees abstaining.

"I thought that the provincial direction and still think that the provincial direction is premature. I think it's ill advised, and I continue to think that," chair Scott Piatkowski, who abstained from the vote, told CBC News.

Trustees approved a subsequent motion requiring Piatkowski to ask provincial officials to delay lifting the mandate until at least April 4, two weeks after students return to school from March break.

"So that we can have just a little bit more time to get the vaccination numbers up, to get the case numbers down and hopefully, just make our students and staff a little bit safer in our school environments," said Piatkowski.

He said a letter requesting the extension will be sent to the province's chief medical officer of health and minister of education on Monday. In it, he asked for a response by Wednesday.

Trustees with the Toronto District School Board have also asked provincial and local officials for more time to lift public health measures, while trustees with the Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board have voted to keep that board's mask mandate until at least April 15 — despite the risk of a legal challenge. 

The UGDSB has said it doesn't have the authority to override the provincial direction to lift mask mandates in public settings. 

"That order trumps anything else," said board chair Linda Busuttil. She added that people have different feelings about masking and encouraged people to respect each others' choices. 

Ford shoots back at schools bucking trend

In a statement, Education Minister Stephen Lecce confirmed schools are expected to follow the province's plan to "to live with and manage COVID-19," which includes lifting mask mandates. He said the ministry is still focused on improving air quality in schools with HEPA filters. 

At a Friday news conference, Premier Doug Ford was asked about the school boards that still plan to keep their mandates in place. 

"Let me be clear to the school boards: they aren't medical experts. The chief medical officer is the expert," Ford said, adding Dr. Kieran Moore has done his "due diligence" in ending the mask mandate.

The Children's Health Coalition, which includes SickKids, McMaster Children's Hospital and other children's health organizations, has said it would have preferred to keep masks for another two weeks past March break. 

"Masks remain an important layer of protection as the pandemic continues and may be needed in communities with low vaccination rates and where there is a surge in cases," the group said in a statement.

"We encourage everyone to continue masking in schools, if they are able, to reduce absenteeism and support sustained in-person learning as a precautionary and phased approach as we come out of the Omicron wave." 

Waterloo region's associate medical officer of health, Dr. Rabia Bana, told reporters on Friday the region has no plans to issue a Section 22 order for masking at this time. This section under the Health Protection and Promotion Act allows a medical officer of health to instate a legal requirement in response to a communicable disease.

Region of Waterloo councillors plan to discuss the face covering bylaw in a special council meeting this week.