Education sector employees, whether directly teaching children and teens in the classroom or working in support roles, work to ensure students succeed as they make their way through school.
Now, those education sector employees who aren’t directly involved with teaching students online while schools are locked down due to government-imposed COVID-19 restrictions are being asked by the province to volunteer their time and help out the healthcare sector as it seeks to contain the virus.
The ask came from the provincial government Wednesday.
Those education workers who step forward to volunteer their time, including custodial, maintenance, food preparation, children and youth service workers, social workers and educational assistants, would be filling staffing gaps in hospitals, long-term care homes, homeless shelters, women’s shelters and other group settings.
“There are many people looking to support during this pandemic and our education support staff is an example,” stated Lucia Reece, Algoma District School Board (ADSB) director of education, in an email to SooToday.
May 16 will mark World Education Support Personnel Day, Reece pointed out.
With that, Reece wrote “I am not surprised the government has opened this opportunity to the education sector as the sector is known to have many caring, dedicated and supportive workers.”
“I think that anyone who is considering volunteering will want to evaluate their personal circumstances (health, home demands) first and ensure they are taking precautions, just like we all are doing now. The board, obviously, has to consider its operational needs first, however, we would look at requests individually and discuss with our union partners, to determine if we can release the employee(s),” Reece wrote.
Premier Doug Ford said the redeployment of education workers to healthcare settings has been given the thumbs up by all provincial trustees associations and provincial unions.
The province said all volunteers will receive training and safety equipment and also be eligible for Ontario’s temporary pandemic pay and emergency child care.
“It is my understanding that workers will identify their skill set and attempts will be made to match needs with skills. However, if training is required, it is provided and volunteers will have to determine their personal comfort level with the training and what the tasks require,” Reece wrote.
“It is important for the education sector (and others) to be doing all it can to support those who have been most affected by this pandemic. I think it was necessary that this option be voluntary, given that we are still awaiting a determination on whether or not schools are reopening, as we would need our staff here to support the reopening of schools,” Reece stated.
“Our board is currently working with our employee groups to come to an understanding of how some of our employees might be redeployed to serve the health care system or other organizations in need of assistance,” wrote Rose Burton Spohn, Huron-Superior Catholic District School Board (H-SCDSB) director of education, in an email to SooToday.
“Although the vast proportion of our employees are currently very busy supporting students as they learn at home, we suspect some will indeed want to volunteer to be redeployed to serve society as a whole. We will do all we can to support these employees, while ensuring that our students education, safety, and well-being is not compromised.”
“We will be considering each employee's voluntary request on a case-by-case basis. We are mindful that the situations into which they might be entering may be unfamiliar and/or require additional training or equipment. We are confident that anyone who would volunteer their services for such assignments would be well briefed on any risks associated with being redeployed. We are also confident in our employees ability to make informed decisions that honour their integrity, their safety, and the safety of those they love and serve,” Burton Spohn wrote.
All volunteers would be keeping their education sector jobs, and able to withdraw from voluntary service in the health care sector at any time, the government said.
