Are N.S. schools ready for students? Some teachers say no

Some teachers say schools aren't ready to welcome back students on Sept. 8 despite the province's messaging to the contrary.

Nicole Whiteway, who teaches grade 10 and 12 mathematics at Halifax West High School, said teachers, staff, administration and custodians are doing everything they can to prepare their school for the return of more than 1,500 students on Tuesday.

"But we don't have everything we need yet, we don't have answers," she said in an interview.

One of Whiteway's major concerns is that schools haven't been given the same safety protocols as other workplaces, like grocery stores and hospitals.

Those protocols include physical distancing, Plexiglas barriers, personal protective equipment and hand-washing stations.

Whiteway said her classroom has one squeeze bottle of hand sanitizer to pass around to each student. There's one bottle of sanitizer spray and a rag to wipe down desks.

As part of the province's back-to-school plan announced in July, each student will get two reusable cloth masks. But Whiteway said that's not enough.

"I sweat through three masks yesterday [Thursday] and I'm on my second mask today because it is so humid," she said. "And we only have the staff in the building today. I can't imagine what it's going to be like when I add teenagers to my classroom."

Whiteway said the ventilation systems were working by Friday afternoon but the school was still quite warm in some areas.

Other teachers in the province have taken to social media to share their concerns.

Another issue in Whiteway's school is water. She said the fountains have signs instructing students not to drink from them.

"I don't know where these kids are going to get water," she said.

Students are supposed to eat lunch seated at their desks while maintaining a safe distance. But Whiteway said the desks in her classroom are less than 80 centimetres apart.

"We've been asked to encourage them to leave the building," she said. "That's fine when the weather is nice, but what happens if it's pouring rain?"

CBC News reached out to a number of other teachers in the province, but they didn't want to speak publicly about their concerns.

In a cabinet meeting Thursday, Education Minister Zach Churchill said he thinks schools are in "very good shape" to welcome back students.

He said the concerns of the teachers about things like masks and lunch can be "easily answered" in the province's back-to-school plan.

"We've had our plan and guidelines out now for over a month … I believe there's been ample time to get prepared for this," he said.