Cautious school opening

The French elementary schools have opened Monday and the Eastern Townships School Board is opening its schools on Wednesday. There is quite a difference between the numbers returning in the French sector versus the English system. A much lower percentage of English sector students are coming back for this experiment devised by Premier Legault.

Hallways will have arrows, students will have to safe distance all the time, cafeterias are shut, playground equipment is off limits, water fountains are blocked off, and that’s just the tip of the iceberg.

For those who travel by bus, it will be quite a different journey than was taken in early March. Instead of three per seat, it will be one per seat, every second seat. With reduced numbers going to school, it may work now, but in the fall, bus drivers have no idea how to manage as they are used to placing three students per seat. Many buses combine students from both French and English elementary schools together and then they often do a high school run afterwards.

Some schools have janitorial services that end earlier in the day before the school daycare services end often at 5 p.m. or 5:30 p.m. In a small school that can be several hours before that time. The daycare space is also used before school begins. The extra cleaning has to happen somehow.

In many schools gym classes are suspended and specialists are not taking a rotation of students into their classroom. What it boils down to is that a lot of time is going to be spent at one desk for the balance of the day. Kindergarten and Pre-k is going to be a special challenge.

Maybe by next week, less students will be going to school. They may be begging their parents to let them stay home where they can have more freedom than at school.