Witness Testimony

Jay McCurdy testified that Ontario students experienced approximately 28 weeks of remote learning between spring 2020 and the 2021–2022 school year, along with repeated lockdowns, extended breaks, cohorting, distancing, and strict masking policies. He stated that remote participation rates often fell to 50 percent or lower, with assignment completion closer to 30 percent in some cases, particularly after students learned that grades could not decline under a “do no harm” evaluation policy. He described remote learning as largely ineffective and disproportionately harmful to disadvantaged students lacking reliable internet or home support.
Upon returning to in-person schooling, McCurdy testified that students demonstrated significant academic lag, reduced resilience, poor persistence with tasks, heightened anxiety, and substantial gaps in basic literacy and numeracy acquisition. He also reported increased behavioural incidents and schoolyard violence, describing conflicts escalating more quickly than pre-pandemic norms. He attributed these changes to prolonged social isolation, cohort segregation, extracurricular cancellation, and sustained fear messaging. He further testified that masking created psychological stress, especially for younger children and those with special needs, including a family member with autism who was unable to tolerate mask requirements and stopped attending school.
McCurdy stated that no formal cost–benefit analysis appeared to guide school closure decisions and that teachers were not consulted prior to implementation of mandates. He testified that early retirements, stress leaves, staffing shortages, and use of under-qualified supply personnel have strained the education system. In his view, academic standards must eventually return to pre-pandemic levels, but he expressed concern that some learning losses—particularly in formative developmental years—may not be fully recoverable. He concluded that children were not adequately centred in pandemic policy decisions and warned against repeating similar measures without broad stakeholder consultation and rigorous analysis.