TORONTO – At Jackman Avenue Public School, students sit in the office area complaining of feeling unwell because of the heat not outside, but inside their classrooms.
“There are a few kids who are kind of sitting in the office. They’re talking about their heads hurting and they want to go home,” said Reshmi Majumder, a parent who received a call that her own six-year-old son was feeling sick.
“He was talking about wanting to go home and that he was feeling really hot.”
READ MORE: Parents call on Ontario government to address heat in schools
The lack of air conditioning in most Greater Toronto Area schools was a hot topic at Queen’s Park Tuesday where the official opposition leader demanded that Premier Kathleen Wynne implement a maximum temperature level.
“I’d like to get the input of public health officials of what is appropriate but I do think we should have maximum temperatures,” said PC Party Leader Patrick Brown.
“I’ve got concern about the state of our schools in Ontario.”
LISTEN ABOVE: PC Leader Patrick Brown joins AM640’s The John Oakley Show.
During Question Period, Wynne said her government has provided funding to schools.
READ MORE: Extended heat warning in effect for Toronto
“We have worked to provide additional funds to schools because we recognize that the majority of schools in the province were built years ago when we didn’t have on a regular basis the kinds of peak hot periods that we have,” she said. “We certainly didn’t have them in September.”
Education Minister Mitzie Hunter later weighed in saying it’s difficult because it has been unusually hot right recently.
“This is a very good example of the local flexibility that school boards need to have based on the situation in that local school and they have that authority today,” she said.
READ MORE: Heat warning issued for Montreal as schools scramble to keep students cool
The Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario (ETFO) issued a news release Monday urging the provincial government to set an indoor temperature level.
“I think the Ministry of Labour and minister of education need to set that limit and once that limit is set it needs to be adhered to,” ETFO President Sam Hammond told Global News.
“Boards needs to take action once they reach that maximum limit and that would include closing schools down.”
- S&P/TSX composite closes up nearly 100 points, U.S. stock markets mixed
- Pedestrian in life-threatening condition after being hit by vehicle in Mississauga
- Judge at trial of man accused of killing cop was concerned over Crown changing theory
- Ontario transportation minister pitches 24-hour work to speed up Gardiner construction
Comments