Veronique Seguin and Vanessa Gareau are both on the same page.
Their children attend Evergreen elementary, but have not physically been in school for weeks.
They said since mid-November, there have been multiple cases of COVID-19 at the school, and according to them, the situation is out of control.
“I don’t think that the kids are safe in any way,” said Seguin.
According to the Lester B. Pearson school board, there have been 21 cumulative novel coronavirus cases at Evergreen, 11 of which were students and 10 staff.
As of Friday, they say there are still four active cases, involving two students and two staff.
“Despite the fact that public health has been informed of the cases at Evergreen, and at the board, they never asked us to close the school,” said Darren Becker, director of communications at the school board.
“In other words, they just told us to continue doing what we’re doing.”
But these parents say they don’t understand some of the decisions that are being made.
For example, in an email they say was sent to all parents on Nov. 16 and provided to Global News, it states that a staff member had tested positive, but children “can still attend class as usual, because the individual was diligent about wearing the proper PPE.”
In another email dated Nov. 29, it explains that two staff members have tested positive, but have been cleared to return to work because these “people have already had COVID and are likely to continue testing positive for subsequent weeks/months.”
The school board said that decision was made on the advice of public health.
“I was floored,” said Gareau. “I couldn’t believe it. I thought this was a joke.”
Parents aren’t the only ones feeling confused. The teachers union says staff are feeling it, too.
“The overall feeling is one of extreme stress and uncertainty and just not fully understanding the answers they are getting from santé publique,” said Matt Wilson, president of the Pearson Teachers Union.
Global News reached out to the Quebec education ministry for comment, but they referred us to the regional public health department.
In an email to Global New, a spokesperson for the CISSS de la Montérégie-Centre said there was no reason to shut down the school as the illness had only spread in a limited number of groups.
“Measures have been added to limit transmission,” said Chantal Vallée, “There is no evidence of general transmission in the school.”
Vallée noted that three classes were closed and students of two of the classes have since returned to school with the third class set to return on Monday, Dec. 7.
In response to parents’ concerns over teachers returning to school after subsequent positive COVID-19 tests, the health board said its priority is to ensure the safety of students and staff.
“People can test positive for a long time even when they are no longer contagious,” Vallée said. “We apply the criteria that are recognized and applied throughout Quebec to determine when a person is no longer contagious.”
Vallée explained that an affected person should be in isolated for a minimum of 10 days after a positive COVID-19 test or after the onset of symptoms.
“As a rule, a person can resume their activities after this 10-day period, when they have been without a fever for 48 hours and have noticed that their general condition has improved in the past 24 hours,” she said.
Vallée added those guidelines make it possible to control outbreaks not only school settings but in health-care and other settings as well.
— With files from Global News’ Annabelle Olivier