Hamilton area students set to join walk out in protest of Ford government

Students from over two-dozen schools in Hamilton and surrounding regions are set to walk out of the classroom Thursday to protest Premier Doug Ford's changes to education.

It's been dubbed the province-wide "Students Say No" walkout. Teens from Hamilton, Burlington and Niagara say the province is shortchanging their education with increased class sizes, a new sex-ed curriculum, changes to OSAP funding and funding cuts to families who use autism therapy.

Over 50,000 people have signed a Change.org petition linked to the protests.

"I haven't seen a single person who's very happy about the changes," said Tyler Horman, a 15-year-old Grade 10 student at Westdale Secondary School, in a message.

"The fact that there's such a large provincial movement indicates that there's a lot of people who disagree with the changes."

If we just wanted to skip class, there's much easier alternatives than putting in the work to organize a big protest across Ontario.- Tyler Horman, student

Horman is transgender, so changes to Ontario's sex-ed curriculum hit particularly close to home.

The province says gender identity and consent will be taught as part of a new curriculum that will be introduced to schools by the fall. Gender identity, however, will now be introduced to students in Grade 8 rather than in Grade 2.

The revised curriculum will replace an interim teaching plan based on 1998 materials that were put in place last year after the Progressive Conservatives repealed a 2015 curriculum from the previous Liberal government.

"One of the first places I ever heard about the LGBT+ community, including transgender, was Grade 6 health class," Horman said. "For students, this means that this information, which could change a person's life, is being held from them for longer, which could make a lot of difference.

"Being able to understand your own gender identity, or understanding what another person may be going through with their own, is vital to the health of transgender people, and that includes young students."

'We're speaking for the students'

Caleb Smolenaars, a Grade 9 student at Nelson High School in Burlington, told CBC News that he is leading the walk out at his school.

"Our schools need more support right now, not less," he said. "We're speaking for the students. We can't vote yet, so this is our only way of telling government we don't like their ideas."

Pressures on students and teachers will increase alongside class size increases, Smolenaars said. The province announced last month that the average class size requirement for secondary Grades 9 to 12 in Ontario will be adjusted to 28, up from the current average of 22.

That change will be phased in over four years, the province says. Ontario high schools currently have one of the lowest student-to-teacher ratios in the country.

Smolenaars said if he could speak to Ford directly, he would plead with him to listen to the message being delivered by students.

"He says he's for the people, but he's not listening," Smolenaars said.

A 'democratic right to protest'

Students say their respective schools have been made aware of their intent to protest.

In a message to parents in the Halton District School Board, officials at K-8 Sir Ernest MacMillan Public School said that "by participating in the walkout, students are exercising their democratic right to protest." Officials said theyanticipateintermediate students will joinin on the protest.

The school said staff will supervise students as they leave class and exit the building, but not accompanythem any farther than that.

"Students who participate in the protest will not be marked absent if they leave class early or are late for their next class," the note says.

Horman said that while he and otherstudents might be young, they are well versed in current events and have a right to protest.

"We're being taught civics and we know how government works, and one of our fundamental rights is peaceful assembly. We see the news every day. If we just wanted to skip class, there's much easier alternatives than putting in the work to organize a big protest across Ontario."

adam.carter@cbc.ca