Something about sitting in class seems more difficult as summer approaches, usually due to the anticipation of vacation.
This year, however, teachers are gearing up for uncomfortably hot classrooms with fans ruled out by pandemic protocol.
The Public Health Agency of Canada primarily attributes COVID-19 spread to droplets from an infected person’s cough or sneeze.
Protocol spelled out in New Brunswick’s Return To School plan last year, like social distancing and mask use, should prevent spread from one infected person, but put that person in front of a fan and those droplets could travel a lot farther.
As a result, teachers won’t be hauling out the fans as temperatures increase.
“This will be a challenge for teachers and for students in these classrooms but safety is the first priority,” says Rick Cuming, president of the New Brunswick Teachers’ Association.
Most schools in New Brunswick don’t have air conditioning, and Cuming says cracking a window may not always provide enough respite from the heat.
He says educators will likely be pursuing alternatives more and more as the term comes to an end.
“I did talk to my daughter over the weekend and she was taking part in some physics classes outside,” says Cuming.
“So there’s lots of those opportunities going around.”
Many students aren’t in class full-time now, alternating online learning days.
Those who will be in class are advised to dress light on hot days and bring water.
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