So here’s the plan... Staff goes back September 2, kids return September 8. Students will return to in class full time. Students in Grades 4-12 are required to wear masks. School staff are being provided with “medical masks” (no details) and face shields. That came as a huge surprise.

I teach grade 3/4 in a school with about 250 people. A lot of our families face economic challenges, so we expect that most will return to school even though there is apparently a provincial plan in place for digital learning for students who stay home.

Our municipality has been relatively untouched. We are the only municipality in the province to not have a mask bylaw, and now cases are on the rise - largely through community spread. Two of our neighbouring municipalities were delayed in reopening by the province because of their higher cases, so of course people came here for hair cuts and to eat in restaurants. And people aren’t voluntarily wearing masks. We refuse to shop in Chatham and instead go to a neighbouring municipality where they have mask bylaws. While they do have higher cases, the cases are largely in the agriculture industry so the numbers and risk don’t exactly line up.

And then today I saw this. My school is in Chatham-Kent.



So now I’m consumed with trying to figure out how to handle this at home. My husband has severe asthma, which is currently well controlled with meds. We live in a small house. I can’t reasonably isolate from my husband and son. To be honest, I’m not sure my mental health could take that option at this point. Rob recently lost his job (another COVID casualty) so things are pretty stressful here already.

I realize there’s not anything anyone can do. Just ranting/whining. Thanks for listening.

I’m so sorry you are facing such difficulties on multiple fronts.



I wish I had something more helpful/tangible to offer than a virtual hug...

What does the chart say? I can't see any of it even with my readers.

Did you mean to say Rob has COVID?

I'm so sorry, Dol.

quote:

Originally posted by Daniel:
What does the chart say? I can't see any of it even with my readers.

Did you mean to say Rob has COVID?

Here’s a link to the tweet that I got the graphic from: https://twitter.com/imgrund/st...904743955890176?s=21

No - Rob has severe asthma, which isn’t ideal if he were to get COVID.

quote:

Originally posted by QuirtEvans:
I'm so sorry, Dol.

+1
Very sorry.

Thanks for the link and clarification, Dol.

Dol, I am so sorry. At the very least, hopefully the mask situation will improve and that will help.

Goodness! I can’t believe any school district is considering opening up. It’s a death sentence.

I’m so sorry.

VERY bad news, Dol! Hopefully some exemptions will open up (e.g. workers with live-in famialy members with high risk conditions). I had no idea Canada was pushing school reopenings like Trump's America.

Follows my comments in thread about Florida kids. Are the more affluent in Canada also pushing a pod way out for their kids?

To be fair when you compare our cases to the US, it’s a completely different situation. Many teachers were ok with going back if they put smaller class sizes in place. They didn’t. And since our area is the one mask bylaw holdout in the province, I’m not very confident.

There are apparently online positions for teachers with medical risks, but I’m not sure about family members, and Rob definitely doesn’t have a severe enough condition that I would qualify. But it doesn’t mean I’m not worried.

quote:

There are apparently online positions for teachers with medical risks, but I’m not sure about family members, and Rob definitely doesn’t have a severe enough condition that I would qualify.

This is one of the things I hate. In the face of a novel virus, who's to say what counts as an "acceptable" risk factor for allowing that person to teach/work online?

It's very unfair.

So sorry for this.

I was out walking with a friend of mine who is a teacher and at this point, her school really doesn't have a plan in place at all yet.

She, too, is worried.