Item - 2020.MM23.18

City Council on July 28 and 29, 2020, adopted the following:

1.  City Council request the Government of Ontario and the Government of Canada to implement an emergency action plan to ensure a safe return to school in September for all children, families and education workers.

2.  City Council request that the emergency action plan include, at a minimum:

a.  immediate funding to stabilize the childcare sector;

 
b.  access for parents to job-protected leave and benefits until school and childcare fully resume;

c.  measures to address the disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on Black, Indigenous and racialized communities and the potential ramifications on students and their families, and ensure we can flow funding to areas hardest hit to ensure equity of access to programming in education and child care;

d.  a COVID-19 recovery school advisory group that includes teacher and education worker unions, parents, students and school boards;

e.  funding for school boards to cover all COVID-19 related exceptional costs they will need to incur to ensure a safe return for both students and education workers; 

f.  consultation with all levels of government to find ways to use available public infrastructure to allow school and child care centres to resume in-person for as many children as possible in a safe and healthy way;

g.  guarantees that no essential workers currently receiving emergency child care will lose child care provision when the emergency child care program ends; and

h.  prioritization of active transportation models to support the safe transport of children to schools, while expanding bus service.

3.  City Council notify the Government of Ontario and the Government of Canada of the City of Toronto's willingness to participate in the implementation of the emergency action plan at the regional level.