Ontario Back to School

A survey published today by Maru/Blue Public Opinion Research North America indicates that Ontario parents with school-aged children want Minister of Health, Christine Elliott (74%), to be ultimately in charge about making decisions about returning to school this fall, not Minister of Education, Stephen Lecce (26%).

The province-wide survey of elementary and secondary students also reveals that health concerns dominate the reasons as to why four in ten (38%) parents will choose virtual learning and not have their children attending school in September.

Key Findings:

• Parents across the province believe that when it comes to making the provincial rules for reopening schools, the Minister of Health, Christine Elliott (74%), not the Minister of Education, Stephen Lecce 26%, should ultimately be in charge of doing so. Parents of elementary students (75%) and secondary school students (73%) are in complete lockstep on this—and parents in the Greater Toronto Area (“GTA) where the largest school board in the province exists also is firmly on board with this view (70%).

• The survey also finds that four in 10 (38%) parents across the province will not be sending their children to school any time soon—this view holds for both elementary student parents (39%) and secondary school parents (37%), with a combined total in the GTA (36%). This would suggest that if a class regularly held 25 students, it would only have 16 attending.

• The survey explored, in-depth, the reasons why parents in total, of those with elementary and secondary school students, would be sending their children to school in the fall and why they won't be doing so.