As students returned to the classrooms from March Break on Monday – the same day provincial masking mandates ended – mixed mask use were seen across Guelph.
Some students opted to continue using masks in the classrooms and on school property, while in some schools mask usage was dropped by over half the student population.
Heather Loney, spokesperson for the Upper Grand District School Board (UGDSB), said each school noticed differences in the number of students wearing masks.
“While we don’t have data on the number of students who are wearing their masks today, from our conversations with some schools it seems that there is a range,” Loney said in an email. “Some schools are reporting around 30-50 per cent of students are wearing masks today, while others have reported lower and higher instances of that. Many staff continue to wear their masks/PPE.”
Alison Wilson, communications officer at the Wellington District Catholic School Board (WCDSB) said in an email the schools have varied mask usages
“Today we have seen varied responses in each of our school communities for staff and students with many still choosing to wear masks at the present time,” Wilson’s email said.
Some parents had voiced their concerns on social media, going so far as to remove their children from classrooms due to safety concerns the ending of the mask mandates would bring.
https://twitter.com/shoshanahjacobs/status/1505876162748243970
Loney said, however, the UGDSB has not noticed a trend in parents requesting to remove their children from in-person learning due to the province’s lifting of COVID-19 restrictions.
Similarly, the WCDSB said it has not had an increase in students requesting to attend our virtual school or temporarily withdrawing students from school.
On Monday some students in a group called the Ontario Students For COVID Safety planned a walkout for 11:00 a.m. to show their dissatisfaction with the ending of the provincial mandates.
Secondary schools visited by GuelphToday did not appear to have any students deliberately walking out in protest to the end of the masking mandates.