Nova Scotia Parents for Public Education say back-to-school plan raises questions

While many parents are relieved the province has announced the return of school in the fall, some are concerned that not enough is being done to protect pupils from possible outbreaks of COVID-19.

Nova Scotia Parents for Public Education are among those voices saying the province's back-to-school plan raises many questions.

According to the parents' advocacy group, Nova Scotia's plan to reopen schools on September 8th has many parents concerned about safety.

In Wednesday's announcement, Education Minister Zach Churchill said schools will reopen with a layered approach of distancing where feasible but circumstances may force the ease of the two-metre social distancing rule in classrooms.

According to Stacy Rudderham, spokesperson for Nova Scotia Parents for Public Education, the move doesn't address many parents concerns.

“In our group, the first question we asked was what was their biggest concern and 80 per cent of the people who responded (said) they were concerned about exposure and the unknown about health concerns both short term and long term,” said Rudderham. 

She added the group's poll among their membership of over 17,000 also found 60 per cent of parents preferred to see class capacity to return at 50 per cent with a hybrid option to give choice to parents whether to send students back to school or not.

She says she would have liked the province to have taken a more cautious approach with the reopening of schools, adding she finds the sudden ambiguity of the rules confusing.

“We' ve been told for months and months that its not safe and that you must socially distance and you must avoid groups and all of a sudden, when its time to open schools, that's set aside just for (students),” said Rudderham. “For me, I find that a little bit troubling.”