Even with safety measures, school exposure a concern

The rules around testing and self-isolation are complicated for parents trying to navigate them.

Brynna Leslie has faced two of the most common situations confronting parents. The day after her eight-year-old daughter started school at Montfort elementary on Sept. 3, she and one brother woke up feeling congested.

Leslie thought it was probably just allergies but kept her daughter home from school and both kids got tested. They were negative.

Then, on Sept. 13, a public health official phoned to say Leslie's daughter had been in close contact with someone at school who had COVID -19. Leslie was told her daughter would have to self-isolate at home until Sept. 23 — 14 days after she was exposed.

That means only venturing as far as the backyard.

The entire Grade 3 class was sent home, said Leslie, and given assignments to do online.

“I feel so frustrated,” she said. Leslie had already cut her consulting work down to part-time hours to help her kids do emergency learning at home after the pandemic closed schools last March.

She knew there was a risk sending her daughter back to in-person classes, but saw a “glimmer of hope” because the school is the “gold standard” for COVID -19 protection, she said.

Her daughter's class has just 17 students, with room for distancing, and all of them wear masks, even though it's not mandatory until Grade 4. The building is relatively new, with good ventilation, and school administrators were following safety protocols, she said.

The secondary school her two sons attend — Louis Riel — also seemed safe, and high schoolers only attend in-person classes parttime, she said.

One of her sons has an art class with only seven students, and they have done lessons outside. The family also received a letter from public health this week warning that someone at Louis Riel had COVID-19. Her sons were not close contacts, so do not have to stay home.

“If it can get into their schools, it can get into all the schools,” said Leslie. “As long as the community cases are high, I think we can expect all schools will have cases and be prone to disruption.” Now she and her husband are having intense conversations about who will oversee their daughter's online schooling during her self-isolation. Leslie said she's privileged to be able to work from home and not fear losing her job.

They have been vigilant about following public health advice and have kept their social bubble confined to their own family, said Leslie. But when she was driving the boys to school this week, it struck her how little control she has over the situation.

“I'm pretty calm. I'm pretty optimistic and happy in my own life. But when I was driving I drove past one long-term care institution, my daughter's school and a daycare that are all under institutional outbreak right now, and I thought I was going to have a panic attack. “I just thought, `Oh my God! COVID!' I called my friend and we kind of laughed about it and she talked me down. I am getting kind of these waves of anxiety. It's just natural I guess because you can't control anything.”