Hope for a new normal, questions swirl as N.L. students, parents sift through back-to-school plan

Reactionsto theNewfoundland,and Labrador English School District's return-to-school plan are mixed,from some students who say mask-wearing is a small price to pay to get back to class, to someparents feeling it's too little, too late.

There's lots of room for dissenting opinions about the document, released Monday, with itsdetails about how schools will operate in September, with changes involving everything from mask-wearing to physical distancing to fewer kids on buses.

Still, if you ask some students how they feel about the plan, there's a surprisingly non-dramatic answer.

"Ifeel pretty normal," said Jed Gilliard, 16, of Portugal Cove-St. Philip's.

"Once we go back, a lot of the expectations for students and staffwhen it comes to health regulationsare going to be a lot more strict. So I've taken up the hobby of using more hand sanitizer. But overall, I'm not too worried," said Gilliard, who is getting ready for Grade 11 atPrince of Wales Collegiate in St. John's.

Another 16-year-old says she'll gladly trade online learning for the new in-class measures, even if it might involve a few pandemic growing pains on the first day back.

"Ithink it's going to be a little hectic, and maybe a little scary, seeing everyone around with their masks and everything on, but i think we all just need to get used to this new normal that's happening and I think getting back to school is one of the best thingswe can do right now," said Ella Niblock of Conception Bay South.

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Both students will be required to wear masks in hallways and other common areas in schools. Niblock's been wearing one for her summer job already, and said she's fine to continue doing so.

"It's really not a big thing for me. And if the chief medical officer says it's the way to go, I'm obviously going to listen to that.I'm not going to make up my own thing," she told CBC Radio's St. John's Morning Show.

Too little, too late

But while Niblock and Gilliard are intent on going back, one mother of three in St. John's remains on the fence about sending hers after seeing the district's plan.

"There was six months to come up with a good plan, and we feel that it's not in keeping with the public health measures for all other places of work," Andrea Newbury said.

Ithink it's just everybody working together, trying to do what's best and figuring it out as we go along.- Corine Porter

One big double standard stands out to Newbury, who isalso the secretary for the Newfoundland and Labrador Alliance party:masks will not be mandatory in classrooms but as of Aug. 24 will be required in virtually every other indoor space in Newfoundland and Labrador.

"The mixed messaging there is quite confusing, and I think it's going to make parents feel a little fearful when they should have been comforted by the plan presented," she said.

While she and her husband haven't made a final decision whether or not to home-school for the year ahead an option the school district says parents will have to apply for she knows others who have already decided schools aren't safe enough.

Class sizes a concern

Even parents fully committed to in-class instruction have unanswered questions and concerns. Class sizes aren't changing under the district's plan, an item criticized Monday by the Labrador Teachers' Association, and a move thatdoesn't make Labrador City mom Corina Porter happy.

"I do think classsizes are too big, and Ido agree with the president of the NLTA [that]it is putting them at a greater risk," Porter told CBC Radio's Labrador Morning.

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Porter said she would have been happy to delay school for a few weeksif it meant giving the district more time to shrink class sizes. The district's plan emphasizes physical distancing instead, andboth Grade 11 students said their experiences show there's little space to do so.

"It'sactually impossible to social distance in my school, let alone the hallways. The classrooms will be a bit of a problem. Sothe masks not in the class is almost a bit of a weird thing on the go," said Niblock, who attends Holy Spirit High School, along with about 900 other students.

Holy Spirit is well known for its Halloween shenanigans, but as most in-school gatherings are off the books for the year, is not likely to look the same in 2020. Niblock lamented that, as well as the potential loss of her after school dance classes, as all extracurricular activities after the school day have been cut to make way for intense cleaning procedures.

'Nothing is ever constant'

Neither Niblock nor Gilliard is certain how they'll be getting home at the end of each day.

While neither were totally dependent on the bus, having family members often give them lifts, they and no one else know at this point who will have a seat as the district's plan, has slashed the spots available from 72 to 46 per bus, leaving about 6,000 students in the lurch.

The district has said priority will go to the students farthest away from schools. Newbury 's oldest daughter takes the bus, and she said she knows there are many parents who simply don't have vehicles or time tochauffeur.

"I'm not sure how that's going to play out for parents who don't have means of transportation," said Newbury.

Porter hopes her 11-year-old daughter makes the cut for a the bus route, as they live in Labrador City and school is in Wabush, and she can't leave work to make the runs herself. As a nurse and mother, she wonders about the sanitation and other health measures being put in place, particularly as flu season approaches.

Her daughter has asthma, and often gets congested and coughs as a result, and wonders how she will know if her daughter has to stay home.

But with Porter's daughter excited to get back to the class and enter Grade 6, Porter is keeping a positive slant on September, and preaching a little pandemic patience.

"Nothing is ever constant, that's what we've learned with this virus. So Ithink it's just everybody working together, trying to do what's best and figuring it out as we go along," she said.

Students are back in class Sept 9.

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