Kathleen Gadd is ready to send her kids back to school – alongside thousands of other young New Brunswickers.
However, she has concerns about COVID-19 and the fact the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development said it won’t be implementing mandatory masks or other safety measures for the return to school in just a few weeks.
“It’s very concerning to me as a parent. I loved school, I absolutely loved school. My kids are super excited for school and so that is challenging for me,” she said. “Because I know that I’m sending my young children into a space where these risks have not been communicated accurately. That feels awful as a parent.”
Gadd says Public Health and EECD are not properly communicating how COVID-19 spreads and are miscommunicating the benefits of masks.
“Every single day, the people we’ve elected in this province, the people whose job it is to keep us safe, are deciding every day not to communicate accurate information to the public,” she said.
Science and COVID-19 research have suggested COVID-19 is airborne over time. In fact, the World Health Organization reports the virus can be transmitted “when infectious particles that pass through the air are inhaled at short range (this is often called short-range aerosol or short-range airborne transmission.).”
She said that’s why masks are a useful tool that’s been left out of the toolbox.
“Masks are source control as well as personal protective equipment,” she said in an interview on Monday. “So, the particles with the virus are stuck in the mask, so they aren’t entering the classroom air and so that makes the classroom safer for everybody. The more masks on more people, the safer it is for everybody.”
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In an email statement on Aug. 26, the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development said “students will return to a school environment to that which they left in June.”
Danielle Elliot, a spokesperson for the department, said while masks are not required for school attendance, the department will continue to encourage individuals who choose to wear a mask, based on their individual level of risk or concern.
“We will continue to work with districts to ensure schools remain a welcoming, supportive and respectful environment for everyone,” she said in the email statement. “Getting vaccinated against COVID-19, including staying up to date with your boosters, is the most effective way you can avoid serious illness.”
The department encourages children who are sick to stay home.
“We ask that students and staff stay home until they have been fever-free for 24 hours with no diarrhea or vomiting for 48 hours without medication,” Elliot said in the statement.
A student who tests positive for COVID-19 should follow Public Health guidelines, Elliot said.
For mom Jenna Morton, there is a lot of anxiety surrounding sending her three children back to school.
“It’s a little nerve-wracking to send the kids back with big class sizes again, no masking, and no real change in air filtration and all of that,” she said. “But it’s always nerve-wracking.”
Morton said it is really helpful to find a good source of information about masking and children. She said with social media, information can become overwhelming.
She said her children attend a smaller school and the staff there have been extraordinary while COVID-19 overshadowed the past three years of school.
However, Morton said there is always risk.
“I have to say I am a little disappointed that I don’t feel more confident in the answers that have been given in terms of what we’re doing to deal with the situation we’re in right now,” she said. “But as a parent, long ago, I had to come to grips with that idea that you constantly live in a state of risk.”
Several of the province’s universities have moved to keep masks mandatory, including the University of New Brunswick, St. Thomas University and Mount Allison University.
“When the provincial government lifted COVID restrictions in March, we left our measures in place until summer and then returned to a traditional campus environment though we retained a masking requirement for indoor common spaces,” said a statement on St. Thomas University’s website. “We will follow a similar model on campus this semester and the following measures take effect on Monday, August 29.”
Public school returns Sept. 6.
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