Pandemic precautions in schools insufficient

Re: Patrick Schneider’s opinion letter (“COVID rules go largely unenforced at Citadel High," Dec. 11), where he aptly points out that COVID-19 protocols are being ignored in many schools.

Patrick has given voice to many students who simply are not safe in our schools. Full disclosure, I am the president of the Halifax City local with the Nova Scotia Teachers Union. It is my job to help support many teachers who work for the Halifax Regional Centre of Education. Teachers are my number one concern. I make no apologies about this — my belief is that teachers who feel supported by the system are in the best position to support our students daily. Teachers who are stressed due to lack of COVID safety will not be at their best for students.

In my role, I have heard the many concerns that teachers have with the COVID protocols, or lack thereof, in schools. Patrick points out that social distancing cannot possibly take place in classrooms of 30+ students, and further, classroom bubbles are basically non-existent due to the number of students in the halls, or in lunch classes together.

Teachers, through their union, have been voicing these concerns since the back-to-school plan was released. Nine months ago, we all would have balked at the idea that we would be living with the precautions we are today. Almost every facet of society looks different: many more people are working from home, retail establishments have shifted how they do business, increased social distancing has been ingrained in our very soul by Dr. Strang, business have plexiglass, increased sanitizing practices and increased ventilation ... yet schools have largely remained unaffected.

Apart from masking at some grade levels, directional arrows and the availability of hand sanitizer, schools remain the same now as they did in March. Students are not able to socially distance in class, many of our school’s ventilation systems are not up to modern standards, mask wearing is inconsistent and, in some schools, not an enforcement priority, and teachers have no additional PPE that other employees who are working closely with clients have. At lunch time, 30+ students are eating, all with their masks removed, in largely poorly ventilated rooms. Teachers are told they cannot have inperson meetings with more than five people, but in the next moment can be in a room with 30 students. The hypocrisy is real, and is taking a massive toll on teachers’ mental health.

The science is clear. Children have been able to spread this virus, and even more concerning is the fact that many children with COVID-19 are asymptomatic. We can say all we want that COVID has not infiltrated many of our schools, however, we cannot know that to be true without a comprehensive testing strategy.

This is unconscionable — how we treat our children and our most vulnerable is the measure that we should judge our society.

We need to do better. Our kids and those teachers that support them daily need our political leaders to step up.