Some Sask. parents not prepared to send children back to class until plan finalized

A number of Saskatchewan parents are calling for a better return-to-school plan before they’ll be willing to send their kids back to the classroom.

When the province largely went into COVID-19 lockdown several months ago, Lindsay Sanderson and her husband had an extremely difficult time adjusting with their young son.

“My son, while he doesn’t have a specific diagnosis, does have some behaviour challenges,” Sanderson said. “He was angry — like angry, punchy, physical for two full months.”

Sanderson and her husband work with a counsellor for her son, who is supposed to start kindergarten this fall. But Sanderson is concerned her son won’t have access to the support he needs when school is back in session.

She said the Educational Institution Guidelines released by the Saskatchewan government have not specified how her son will receive the help he needs when classes resume.

“He’s a very, very high-energy, active kid,” Sanderson said. “He needs to climb things, throw things, lift things in a day.

“If children are going to be confined to their desk for a longer period of time and if there is going to be less active play available, I foresee in my household that being a pretty big challenge as far as his mental health and my own.”

Sanderson is also a small business owner. When the pandemic hit the province in March, she temporarily closed her doors to take care of her son at home.

Her concerns over gaps she sees in the province’s return-to-school plan leave her hesitant to send her son to class in the fall.

“If we don’t see a plan that involves continuity of care, mental health support, behaviour support … that we can feel confident that he’s not going to have to go through that intense disruption again, he likely won’t go back to school,” Sanderson said.

“We finally have kind of gotten him settled and into things through a lot of hard work. And it’s taken a toll on my mental health, it’s taken a toll on my husband’s mental health and I don’t know if we have it in us to go through that again.”

However, Sanderson fears not being able to return to work.

“I’m just one person but I’m not unique and if we don’t have women going back into the workforce we will not have an economic recovery,” Sanderson said.

“The level of detail in the plan we currently have for returning to school in the fall is simply not adequate,” added NDP Education Critic Carla Beck.

She echoed Sanderson’s concerns that the guidelines for school divisions fail to address the fears of teachers, parents, staff and caregivers for the coming semester.

With only a little more than a month before classes are to resume in September, Beck said parents and teachers have yet to hear any level of detail regarding more solidified return-to-school plans.

Eyla Lam, a mother and former teacher with the Saskatoon Public School Division, said she plans at this time to send two of her four children to school in the fall, but it depends on the government’s guidelines.

First and foremost, Lam, like Sanderson, wants to see schools reopen.

“We know that this shutdown has been devastating for the physical health, the mental health, the emotional health of basically all of our kids across Saskatchewan,” Lam said.

However, there are three key concerns Lam and her family said they need addressed before they will feel safe sending their children back to class.

First, Lam said she is concerned that school systems are not being held to the same level of health and safety standards as other industries and businesses across the province.

“Businesses and organizations have very strict rules and guidelines that they need to be able to demonstrate they can meet before they’re being allowed to reopen and schools are not being held to that standard,” Lam said.

Specifically, Lam said she is concerned over the province’s discussion of social distancing and the use of personal protective equipment (PPE) within schools.

“It goes so far as to say physical distancing is not practical … masks are not required by staff,” Lam said. “We know all of the research, all of the information that we’ve been receiving from the government as general citizens says physical distancing works. PPE and mask wearing works. Why are we not doing this in our schools?”

Lam said she wants to see rules about PPE and physical distancing implemented and mandated across the province.

Student inequality inferred by the guidelines is another concern for Lam.

According to the Educational Institution Guidelines, students will be required to provide their own sanitation supplies this fall. That includes hand sanitizer.

While not an unusual request, Lam fears students whose families cannot afford such items will see their children face an increased risk to their health when school resumes.

“One in four students in our province is living below the poverty line and being unable to provide those basic sanitation supplies could have really tragic consequences for our kids,” Lam said.

“Safe and healthy school environments are a right of all of the children in Saskatchewan. Who’s going to cover the shortfall to make sure that all of our kids have access to the same hygiene and safety supplies that they need?”

The guidelines also place responsibility on school divisions to create their own COVID-specific illness administrative procedures.

“School divisions and teachers are not medical professionals,” Lam said, responding to the provincial guidelines.

“These kind of COVID-specific guidelines need to be created by medical professionals within the Saskatchewan Health Authority and then they need to be mandated across the province.”

“I’m hanging on by a thread”

Lam and Sanderson say their concerns have been repeated by other concerned parents across the province who feel the Saskatchewan government has not done enough in its guidelines to protect children returning to the classroom.

“Schools need to be open. Kids need to be back in the classroom. But failure to do it safely and correctly is going to have really tragic consequences,” Lam said.

In Nova Scotia, a plan has been announced to survey almost 30,000 people in the province about how children should return safely to school in September.

“Right now we have no specialized plans for those students and I’m hearing from parents that they’re very concerned,” Beck said.

With the fall start date for schools to reopen looming, Lam said the only correspondence parents have to refer to during this time comes from the guidelines.

“We have received no other correspondence from the Ministry of Education, from our individual school divisions … and we are getting very close to that school reopening date,” she said.

“This is ridiculous,” Sanderson added. “This is not a plan; this is childish.

“I don’t think I’m unique in that I’m hanging on by a thread.”

Sanderson said parents need notice on definitive school plans so they can decide if they are able to return to work in the fall or if they will seek out other child-care or schooling alternatives.

“School is education. It’s a right, it needs to be done safely,” Sanderson said. “It is also child care and it is a lynchpin to a functioning society.”

Education minister responds

In response to the concerns, Education Minister Gordon Wyant said all school divisions had submitted their own detailed return-to-school plans to the ministry as of June 30. Those plans were based on the guidelines developed by the province.

“Plans are currently being reviewed by the Education Response Planning Team (RPT) to ensure they adhere to the provincial guidelines,” Wyant said.

“School divisions will receive feedback on their local plans before the end of July, in order to ensure enough time for divisions to put their plan into place.”

Wyant said the Educational Institution Guidelines were similar to the approach taken in other provinces, such as Alberta.

Addressing funding-related concerns, Wyant says about $40 million in costs was saved by school divisions as a result of the in-school learning suspension due to COVID-19. He said school divisions have indicated they intend to use that funding for any additional costs associated with a safe return to school.

“At this time, no school division has requested additional funding for COVID-related items,” he said.

Regarding concerns over PPE and physical distancing, Wyant reiterated the province has acted in accordance with orders by Saskatchewan’s chief medical health officer and the Ministry of Health.

“(They) have indicated that masks, gloves and/or eye protection are not required to be worn by students or staff, except in situations where individuals are in close contact with students who present symptoms,” Wyant said in a released statement.