Education workers from across Windsor-Essex are eager to provide a safe learning space when schools reopen to in-person learning in September.
On Tuesday, education workers from three of the public school boards serving the region will meet with provincial leaders of the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE). The meetings will be to discuss formulating a plan to ensure schools are safe for all who use them, once they open in the fall.
Staff from the Greater Essex County District School Board, Windsor-Essex County District School Board, and Conseil scolaire Catholique Providence are scheduled to participate in the in-person meetings. CUPE represents 1,200 educational workers in Windsor-Essex.
"Education workers have deep knowledge and unparalleled skills when it comes to what students need and the ways that schools work," said CUPE's Ontario School Board Council of Unions president Laura Walton. "We’ve supported students, schools, families, and communities throughout the pandemic. Our input is critical to a safe September. We want to make sure we’re doing our part to make schools safe places to learn and work once again."
The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in about a year-and-a-half of disrupted education in the province, according to Walton. The Tuesday meetings will allow brainstorming on ideas to improve ventilation, implement more aggressive cleaning and sanitation standards, and get smaller class sizes.
Educational workers are those defined as supplying support in school buildings. These include educational assistants (EAs), office staff, custodians, building maintenance, preventative maintenance workers, early childhood educators, and others.
