TORONTO -- Teachers at schools in the Peel District School Board will now be required to wear a face shield or goggles while inside the building.
In an email to CP24, Tiffany Gooch, a spokesperson for the school board, confirmed that any staff member or essential visitor who is in the building for longer than 15 minutes is now required to wear the additional personal protective equipment (PPE).
“Staff can choose between the two, and as with all mandatory PPE, the board has provided this to school staff for use,” the statement read.
Gooch said the updated procedures surrounding PPE are based on recommendations from Peel Public Health.
“Increased Personal Protection Equipment and acting with an abundance of caution in our implementation of enhanced safety measures are meant to keep students, staff and the community safe,” Gooch’s statement read.
“We know that our staff have gone above and beyond to protect themselves, their students and their colleagues and it is appreciated.”
Other schools boards in the GTA, including the York Region District School Board and the Halton District School Board, require teachers to wear face shields or goggles during instruction.
The Dufferin-Peel Catholic District School Board also requires staff to wear PPE provided by the board, including eye protection, such as face shields and goggles.
On its website, the Durham District School Board says medical masks and eye protection are provided to all teachers and other staff.
The Toronto District School Board's policy indicates that face shields must be worn by staff in combination with a mask when physical distancing can't be maintained from others "when providing direct care, consoling an upset child or assisting a student with changing clothes or when cleaning up bodily fluids with the risk of splashing."
"Face shields are also required to be worn when in a classroom where students are not masked and physical distancing cannot be maintained," the policy reads.
The Toronto Catholic District School Board said staff members are required to wear face masks but Toronto Public Health has not recommended additional PPE, including face shields and goggles.
Several studies in peer-reviewed medical journals have found that the eye may be the path to infection for a significant number of coronavirus cases.
The provincial government has said that all students in Grades 1 to 12 must wear masks or face coverings inside schools, on transportation, and outside when physical distancing cannot be maintained.
