Manitoba students return to in-class learning on Monday

Students and teachers across Manitoba are returning to in-person learning on Monday, with some feeling wary as the province's Omicron-driven surge in COVID-19 cases continues to rise.

That includes Winnipeg mom Kisa MacIsaac. In a way, she's excited to send all three of her kids — ages seven, 11 and 13 — back to classes this week and go to her job as an early childhood educator. 

But she's also nervous about the exposure risks her family faces, especially as skyrocketing infections linked to the highly contagious Omicron variant have led officials to say it's likely all Manitobans will soon be exposed to COVID-19.

"I feel at risk going to work, and I feel at risk sending my kids to school," MacIsaac said.

"It's definitely an inner conflict, but I'm sending all three of them."

The province's change in messaging has also led to a shift in conversation for families like Michelle D'Souza's.

"All along, we've been saying to avoid it. Now, it's like we need to have them start thinking that the goal isn't to avoid it. We're just preparing for when it comes to our family," said D'Souza, a Winnipeg mom with five kids ages eight to 16.

"So it's just reminding them that it'll be OK. And it's not as scary as it may have seemed two years ago."

The return to the classroom marks for most Manitoba students the first time they've been back at school since before the winter break.

As Omicron walloped the province at the end of December, officials first delayed the return to school by a few days, then announced almost all students would go back with a week of remote learning before actually seeing a classroom again.

But for one Manitoba family, the increase in community spread in the province was enough to call off the return to the classroom — at least temporarily.

Carrie Johnson's 10-year-old son, Brady, has Type 1 diabetes, which she said puts him at a higher risk of having severe outcomes from COVID-19.

That's why she's keeping him and his eight-year-old sister, Annika, home from classes until two weeks after they get fully vaccinated at the end of the month.

"We want him to be as safe as possible," Johnson said, adding that the kids' school south of Winnipeg in La Salle, Man., has been "amazing" in making sure their education doesn't suffer while they're at home.

A spokesperson for the province said Manitoba has seen a four per cent increase in the number of homeschooling inquiries it's gotten in the past six weeks. 

Mom Alejandra Harder said she fears the return to the classroom is going to lead to further spikes in infections.

"I think having a lot of kids in a classroom together [who] don't necessarily know how to keep their distance and wipe their nose and sanitize – it's just going to have case numbers explode even further," Harder said.

But her daughters, nine-year-old Kyleigh and 12-year-old Elysa, took differing views on the topic.

For Kyleigh, it would feel a lot safer if there was enough room for her classmates' desks to be spaced further apart.

"I don't feel safe about going to school because then people are close contacts," she said.

But Elysa said she's excited to head back to the classroom.

"I would like to go back to school because I'd get to see my friends and other kids and stuff. But if we have to do remote learning, then it's not that big a deal," she said.

For some students, worries about the safety of Manitoba's return to the classroom have led to walkouts scheduled Monday at schools across Winnipeg.

Taking precautions

Will Penner, a Grade 8 math teacher in Winnipeg, said he's welcoming students back to class with a dose of "cautious optimism."

"It's a sense of relief, having students back in the building," he said on CBC's Rosemary Barton Live on Sunday.

Penner said he hopes measures like designating one-way hallways and handing out medical masks will help stem the spread of COVID-19 in schools like his — but it's the way some teachers have been able to cut down class sizes that he thinks will really help.

"We'll see what happens tomorrow. You know, there's so many things that have happened over the last year and a half, and I think we've experienced everything from A to Z in terms of what we've had to do [as teachers]," he said.

"I know that I want to see as many students as possible and just keep them safe, keep our staff safe and our support staff safe as well."

In some schools, like those in Winnipeg's Seven Oaks and Louis Riel school divisions, those measures also include asking students to go home for lunch if possible. 

"Probably the highest risk situation we have in schools is when kids are eating. They're in a social circumstance with friends and they're unmasked," said Seven Oaks superintendent Brian O'Leary.

"We'll try and spread kids out at lunch hours as much as possible. But if as many kids as possible head home for lunch, that'll help."

O'Leary said his division is beefing up its staffing ranks by recruiting retired teachers and regular substitutes to commit to be available every day in January and February.

As of Jan. 13, absenteeism in the division was actually lower than average for teachers (6.2 per cent) and about normal (12.4 per cent) for non-teaching staff, he said.

It's something O'Leary credits in part to enhanced pandemic measures preventing the spread of illnesses other than COVID-19, much like it did when the H1N1 influenza virus hit Manitoba.

"The precautions we're taking to mitigate COVID are … at this point only partially successful for COVID. But they're really successful for your run-of-the-mill colds and flus," he said. 

Absenteeism was similar in the Louis Riel School Division (2.7 per cent of teachers and 15.7 per cent of support staff). That division also said it will share absenteeism rates with the school community.

While those rates were a little higher in the Winnipeg School Division — the province's biggest — at 14 per cent for teachers and 19 per cent for support staff, spokesperson Radean Carter said that was "within the range of normal for this time of year."

As for what to do if staffing shortages get bad enough that there aren't enough people working, plans appear to depend on each situation's circumstances.

The Seven Oaks School Division may look at cancelling the odd high school class if needed, while the Louis Riel School Division said a class, cluster of classes or entire school may need to be reconfigured or temporarily closed if needed.

Meanwhile, in the Winnipeg School Division, discussions were still underway last week about how to approach those situations if they come up.