N.L. students, staff return to the classroom after COVID-19 delay
CBC News | Posted: January 25, 2022 9:30 AM | Last Updated: January 25, 2022
Learning has been largely virtual since the holidays
Parents and education officials say the return of in-person learning in Newfoundland and Labrador has raised mixed emotions in students and their families, teachers and school staff.
Schools across the province went largely online Jan. 4, thanks to a rise in COVID-19 cases over the holidays.
The date to return to classes was announced during a COVID-19 briefing on Thursday. Premier Andrew Furey said the classroom is the best place for children to learn.
"Our children deserve our best effort, and I'm confident that the hard-working women and men in our schools, the teachers and support staff alike, will deliver, as they have throughout the pandemic," he said at the time.
All students, teachers and school staff will need to complete a second COVID-19 rapid test Tuesday morning to ensure they are negative. The first of the two required tests was to have been taken Saturday.
Students and staff will be required to wear masks at all times in the classroom except when they're eating or engaged in vigorous physical activity. Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Janice Fitzgerald said a three-layer mask is recommended, but students can wear more than one mask as a substitute.
Fitzgerald has said COVID-19 cases will likely rise as schools reopen but said the benefits of children being in school outweigh the risk of the disease.
"We cannot let fear guide our decisions. We have always relied on evidence to guide the way, and it is through a careful review of the evidence that we have assessed the risks and benefits of returning to school," she said last week.
For Shelley Dalton, a mother of a Grade 12 student in St. John's, a safe return to classes was a long time coming.
"I believe the safety measures that have been put in place in schools are probably the best that any province has in the country.… None of them have as robust a safety plan as we have in Newfoundland. Myself and a group of parents have been advocating for many of the measures since last year," she said.
"There are going to be challenges, but overall I just believe that the best place for most kids is in the classroom.… We can't keep sacrificing the needs of kids for the needs of society."
Newfoundland and Labrador Teachers' Association president Trent Langdon said the return came with uncertainty and insecurity for teachers.
"Teachers have said they were going through the schools as if they have to be hypersensitive to everything, just double- and triple-checking things … almost feeling as if they have to come down too heavy on students to make sure they're in compliance."
The NLTA was against the resumption of in-person classes Tuesday, saying the COVID-19 caseload and hospitalizations were too high to return yet.
Some kids staying home
Not every student returned to school Tuesday. In-person classes for grades 8 and 9 students at Menihek High School in Labrador City are suspended because of "staffing pressures," according to a Newfoundland and Labrador English School District memo sent to parents on Monday.
In a statement early Tuesday afternoon, the school district told CBC News there aren't enough substitutes in the area and it's working to rectify the matter.
"An update will be provided to the school community prior to Wednesday morning," the statement reads.
In Grand Falls-Windsor, Terri Kelly, a mother of three, is keeping her children home until they're fully vaccinated because her youngest child is immunocompromised and also has asthma.
"At this particular time, and with my son having health risks, I just felt that it wasn't safe to send them back to school just yet," Kelly told CBC News on Tuesday.
"I've been told by his doctors that he is at very high risk if he were to catch COVID."
Kelly said she home-schooled her children last year when vaccines weren't available for younger populations. Her youngest child is due for his second dose of vaccine by mid-March, at which point Kelly said she feels it will be safer to send all three of her children back to school.
But until then she's joining other parents in calling on the district to provide an online option for students who are out of class.
"I'm just looking for an option for families like mine. Something, anything that's offered online," Kelly said.
"Whether the teachers place materials on Google Classroom for the parents, or perhaps place their lesson plan … so we can follow along and the children can follow along with their classes until it's safe to return."
On Monday, school district CEO Tony Stack told CBC News there is an online learning option for students who are immunocompromised. He said 29 students have been enrolled in the program since September, with 20 of those students in kindergarten to Grade 9 and nine in high school. Stack said those students have documented situations signed off by a specialist.
Sobia Shaikh, who lives in St. John's, is also keeping her child at home until they are officially fully vaccinated against COVID-19, which is two weeks after the second dose in Newfoundland and Labrador.
She says the return to school should have been delayed until all children have the opportunity to receive a second dose, which would be about six weeks away, according to Fitzgerald.
"I don't understand why the rollout was so slow," said Shaikh. She also said there should be a hybrid learning model for students staying at home for any reason.
"I think the fact that the system we're rolling out didn't seem to care about kids and families who have specific health concerns or disabilities, we were really concerned about that."
According to the NLESD, 10,519 students of the 59,452 eligible to return were absent Tuesday — about 18 per cent of students. The average absentee rate in January is nine per cent.
A total of 660 school staff members also reported unanticipated absences "for reasons that may or may not be related to COVID-19," the district said.
Sheshatshiu Innu School waiting
Meanwhile, it's going to be a few more days until Sheshatshiu Innu School students return to the classroom.
Sheshatshiu school director Tim Jack said 2,600 COVID-19 rapid tests have arrived, but the target date for his community's students to return to class is Monday. Another 200 rapid tests are on hand for school staff.
"We just decided ourselves, maybe we should wait the extra week and see what happens throughout the province," Jack said Tuesday.
"We will continue to be ready if anything arises again in the future."
Students and staff will begin COVID-19 testing on Friday, then do another the morning classes return, following the same public health guidelines as the school district.