Ottawa-Carleton District School Board (OCDSB) trustees voted 6-6 to not reinstate its mask mandate. .“The motion requiring students and staff to mask did not pass,” said the OCDSB in a Thursday tweet. .“The Board of Trustees strongly encourages the community to follow the advice of Ottawa Public Health (OPH), including wearing masks in indoor public settings.”.OCDSB Trustee Nili Kaplan-Myrth introduced the motion on Tuesday. .The motion said there's a significant increase in COVID-19, influenza, and respiratory syncytial virus cases in Ottawa. It said the health and safety of students and staff is in jeopardy, which is demonstrated by crises in emergency rooms at the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario (CHEO) and other Ottawa hospitals. .Respiratory viruses are causing people to miss work and school at unprecedented levels. The motion alleged there is no evidence of harm to an adult or child’s physical or mental health from wearing masks, while there is strong evidence of harm caused by respiratory diseases. .The OCDSB has a responsibility to take steps to reduce health and safety risks to students and teachers because safety in schools is a precautionary principle. It is possible for the school board to distribute N95 masks to families and teachers who cannot afford them. .The motion would have required students and staff to wear a surgical or N95 mask in all OCDSB buildings or during any school activity, except musical or performing arts instruction, sports wear masks cannot be worn, and nutritional breaks. It said children or adults with written medical exemptions from their doctors would not have to comply. .Violations of the mask mandate were supposed to be subject to the same operational rules governing OCDSB health and safety policies and codes of conduct. It would have remained in place until OPH declares flu season has ended in the city, CHEO pediatric ICU occupancy is less than 85% for two weeks, and people are no longer advised to wear masks. .An amendment was introduced to change the mask mandate to allow people who experience hardship or be unable to function to be exempt. .OCDSB Trustee Donna Blackburn said she would not support the motion because it was too broad. .“I think we need to be clear as a board whether or not we support a mask mandate,” said Blackburn. .Blackburn said anyone who says they experience hardship or cannot function can claim an exemption. She said providing people with “a murky motion that’s not clear is again not going to be helpful and is going to in my opinion continue the divisiveness that this whole situation has created.” .Kaplan-Myrth said she did all she could. .“Can’t do more as a trustee,” said Kaplan-Myrth. .“The children are not OK, and the grownups are reading from a ‘freedom’ playbook.” .She said it is “not a good time to be a person with disabilities, child, parent, senior, educator, HCW (healthcare worker).”.Kaplan-Myrth had a meltdown on The Morning Rush with Bill Carroll on 580 CFRA on Tuesday when asked to defend her arguments about why mask requirements in schools should return. .READ MORE: WATCH: Ottawa school board trustee has meltdown about mask mandates.“But I have to start right off the bat by correcting the misinformation you just said,” she said. .“COVID is not gone.”
