The school community is worried regarding the return to primary and secondary schools, which is maintained for January 17 despite the surge in cases of COVID-19. “Unanswered questions” remain regarding class ventilation, staff availability and protocols in the event of an outbreak, say education stakeholders.
The Minister of Education, Jean-François Roberge, is convinced that the return to class can be done in a “safe” way with a series of measures announced Wednesday: more than 7 million self-tests will be distributed to preschool and junior students. primary, in January and February. These tests will help keep infected students at home.
Rapid tests will be offered in elementary schools, to detect students or staff infected during the day. School staff will also have access to PCR tests, now reserved for certain categories of workers or citizens. This is a request from school principals torn off at the last minute during the day on Wednesday, our sources indicate.
In addition, 400 air exchangers have been delivered to schools, and more will be delivered to those who request them. Work on school ventilation systems is also being carried out (an information session on this subject is announced for next week). Some 50,000 CO2 readers (out of 90,000) will also have been delivered by Friday, and will be installed in the classes by the time they return to school, according to Minister Roberge. He is optimistic that the remaining 40,000 readers will be delivered in February.
“The health context is difficult, it’s obvious. The variant is extremely contagious. However, it is important to mention that our schools are safe, ”said Jean-François Roberge during a press briefing on Wednesday.
School principals, unions and parents’ committees welcomed some measures, but expressed doubts regarding other elements of the plan. “I don’t think anyone is completely reassured,” responded Kathleen Legault, president of the Montreal Association of School Directions (AMDES).
“We need a contingency plan. What do we do if one day we don’t have enough staff? Can a principal close a school? She asks herself.
Because of the surge in infections and isolation, “we know there will be a shortage of staff,” adds Nicolas Prévost, president of the Quebec Federation of School Directions (FQDE). “If classes end up without a teacher and we don’t have substitutes, what do we actually do with the students? We cannot send them to another group or to daycare for the day. It takes school transport to send them home, but we have schedules to respect, ”he explains.
Upcoming protocols
The representative of school principals said he saw “good listening” from the Ministry of Education. Everyone in the network agrees with the importance of getting students back to class as quickly as possible, for learning and for the mental health of young people. But seven working days before the planned return to class, “there are still many unanswered questions,” argues Nicolas Prévost.
He and other players in the network believe that Public Health must determine the protocols as quickly as possible in the event of an outbreak in the classroom. Dr Horacio Arruda, National Director of Public Health, said his team is working on new procedures in light of the variant Omicron, vaccination and other variables.
He confirmed that the isolation period for students aged 12 and over and adequately vaccinated staff members will be reduced from 10 days to 5 days, if they have no symptoms.
Masks and ventilation
Questions remain regarding the masks and measures to improve ventilation, according to network actors. School staff are asking for N95 masks, used in the health network. The Minister of Education sought an opinion from Public Health on this matter, but Dr Arruda spoke out once morest the suggestion.
“The N95 mask is not recommended in schools for various reasons,” explained Horacio Arruda. It is mainly used in a care setting for specific interventions. It is exceedingly difficult to wear an N95 all day. Wearing the N95 in midfield, especially outside of healthcare settings, is no superior to the properly used procedural mask. This is what our experts tell us. “
Students and staff will have access to a greater number of procedural masks (the so-called blue surgical masks) than the two distributed each day, Minister Roberge said.
Dr Arruda and his team also continue to believe in the effectiveness of air exchangers – and open classroom windows, even in winter – and rule out installing air purifiers, deemed useful for schools in Ontario. “It’s clear to me that when we talk regarding aeration, we are talking regarding bringing in fresh air and exhausting the stale air outside, which is what the air exchanger does. I think air purifiers, especially if they are poorly maintained and in the wrong place, can give the impression that it is better, but it is not the thing that is recommended by the experts, ”argued the Dr. Arruda – a claim that is the subject of scientific debate.
A plan, please
Teachers ‘unions and other categories of school personnel, parents’ committees and opposition parties are not reassured by these decisions.
“CO2 readers are not a solution to the problem of air quality in our schools. We’ve known this is a problem for 18 months, when are we going to solve it? », Reacted Kévin Roy, president of the Federation of parents’ committees of Quebec. We have been living in a pandemic for almost two years, we must learn to live in this reality and we must have a real plan so that our children can go to school. Where’s the plan? “
