EMSB will decide for itself when it's safe to reopen, trustee Marlene Jennings decrees

The English Montreal School Board will decide when it can safelyreopen its elementary schools even if it means missing the deadline to resume classeson May 19, its provincially appointed trustee announcedWednesday.

The EMSB will determine which school buildings and centres it can safely open and when, according to a motion put forward and adopted by trustee Marlene Jennings at anadministrative meeting Wednesday.

"I want to make it clear that our school board is not telling the Quebec government and the Minister of Education to go play in the street," said Jennings, whose mandate was renewed for another six months by the education minister at the start of May.

The board's administration and staff are working closely with the ministry to "do everything we can to open as many schools as we can by the deadline which the government has set for the island of Montreal," she said.

On Thursday, the EMSB released a statement saying Jennings is not taking a political stance on the issueand will immediately inform the ministry if it is not possible to open certain schools.

The trustee's decision comesafter a statement was issued by the Quebec English School Boards Association (QESBA) last Friday.

"There are still far too many unknowns that compromise the ability of school boards to safely and effectively reopen schools," said QESBA.

However, the provincial government has said English school boards in the province do not have the power to delay opening their elementary schools, despite the boards' concerns that resources won't be in place to ensure the safe return of students amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Education Minister Jean-FranoisRoberge was initially saying thedeadline still standsMay 11 for schools in most of Quebec's regions andMay 19 for schools in the greater Montreal area.

But that deadline changed on Thursday morning when the the Quebec government announced it ispostponingthe planned reopening of elementary schools, daycares and businesses in the greater Montreal area to May 25.

12 student limit to72-seat bus

When it comes to reopening, there is still much to do in the coming week and a half, the EMSB's director general,Ann Marie Matheson, told the board Wednesday.

Beyond reorganizing classrooms and schools so students and staff can maintain a safe distance from oneanother, she said, transportation is a concernas buses that once carried 72 students will now only carry 12.

Matheson said much of the reorganization has begun, but there's more to do as schools install handwashing stations, figure out how many students can be in a room and find places to store all the unused desks and chairs.

On top of that,more than 500 teachers have applied to be exempt from returning to work, she said. All those requests are being assessed in collaboration with the province's workplace health and safety board, the CNESST.

"We're putting in place everything we can to prepare for now," said Matheson, but she said there are stilldetails that haveyet to be clarified by the Education Ministry.

"There's still much information that we don't have."

Thousands of parents decline to send kids back to school

In preparing for the reopening, both Matheson and Jenning saidit is important that more parents fill out a survey that was sent out in recent days as the responses will help schools and the board determine how best to proceed withreopening.

So far, more than 3,700 parents say they don't want to send their elementary school-aged children back when classes resume.

The EMSB sent out 11,379 surveys to the parents over the weekend, though some parents say they didn't receive the email until Wednesday morning.

As of 3 p.m. Wednesday, 4,721 surveys were returned. That representsa participation rate of 41.5 per cent, Jennings said.

Of those, a mere 1,008 parents have agreed to send their children back to school.

Jenningsis encouraging all parents to fill out the survey, to ensure the board and schools "will be able to provide a healthy and safe environment for your children."