As the return to school becomes more imminent, some parents are starting to feel anxious about what this school year will look like in the midst of the current COVID-19 pandemic.
The EMSB’s Parent’s Committee (EMSBPC) held a special meeting on Monday night to try and answer some of the many questions parents have.
Dozens of questions were asked during a Zoom meeting to several of the board’s officials.
Parents wanted to know more details about what the back-to-school plan is for the board’s schools, what sanitary measures schools will provide, what kind of physical distancing will take place and how are the so-called bubbles of six students work.
Board officials said they are working with the government to implement the guidelines the education ministry has provided.
They are reassuring parents saying they’ve had positive experiences in the reopening of emergency daycares and the Mackay centre.
“We’ve come so much further now with health and safety protocols and if they are respected in the schools by everyone the risk should be low,” said Evelyne Alfonsi, the EMSB’s Assistant Director General during the Zoom meeting.
The EMSB Parents Committee told Global News in a statement that it will look to work closely with the education ministry and the board’s administration to see where parents’ requests and suggestions could be implemented.
“So far, both the government and the EMSB have expressed an openness to work with us to find workable solutions and we look forward to continuing this dialogue once we have a mandate from our Parent Committee members,” wrote the committee’s chair, Caroline Phaneuf.
Increase in COVID-19 cases among youth
Quebec’s Deputy Premier Geneviève Guilbault warned of a significant increase of COVID-19 cases among young people aged 15 to 34.
The cases have involved outbreaks of the novel coronavirus in bars, private gatherings, as well as certain sports and social activities.
The province’s health authorities said that overall, the situation is under control and they are making all efforts so the number of cases doesn’t continue to increase.
“We have already discussed those measures that should be taken in those institutions where obviously transmission can happen,” said Richard Massé, Quebec’s public health strategic advisor of schools, colleges and universities.
“If we want to prevent those large outbreaks, we need to intervene very, very rapidly when it starts, so there are going to be messages that will need to be passed. It’s really on our radar.”
Parents can expect details about the opening of their school a week to 10 days before the school starts, say EMSB officials.
All school boards or service centres are expected to develop their own plans.
— With files from Global’s Annabelle Olivier
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