Questions linger after boards release back-to-school plans

Parents of students in both of Ottawa's English school boards say they still have questions and concerns about back-to-school plans released Monday.

Both the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board (OCDSB) and Ottawa Catholic School Board (OCSB) released their plans late Monday afternoon, following the province's July 30 update.

Both boards provided more details about cleaningprotocols and other measures to keep students a safe distance from one another.

Ariel Troster's daughter will be starting Grade 3, which the OCDSB will cap at 23 students perclass.

"I worry about a lack of hard caps on [older] class sizes, too many children crowded into a room," she said. "We can sanitize and wash our hands as much as we want, but we know this is a virus that is spread by respiratory droplets."

Troster said she would have liked to see more creative thinking from the OCDSBin terms ofoutdoor teaching, as well as improvedventilation and air filtration in older buildings.

"It's like slapping a mask on a kid instead of dealing with the major structural problems in schools that would potentially make them unsafe," Troster said.

WATCH | Plan seen as lacking creativity

Parents push for creative thinking in back-to-school plan

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Ariel Troster, whose daughter will be starting Grade 3 in the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board, says shes disappointed that more creative solutions dont appear to have been considered in the back-to-school plan.

According to the Catholic board's information package for parents, it would cost $150 million to hire an additional 1,500 teachers to cut its class sizes in half, a cost the OCSB says it can't afford.

The Ministry of Education is boosting funding by $30 million provincewide. Individual school boards must apply for the extra money, and the OCDSB has indicated it woulduse the money to further reduce class sizes.

Provinces back-to-school plan too vague, some parents say

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Danielle Veal, who has two children in the Ottawa Catholic School Board, says the current plan lacks important details when it comes to cleaning guidelines and support for teachers.

Danielle Veal, whose two sons will attend kindergarten and Grade 1 at St. Andrew School in Nepean, said she understands the OCSBisin a tough spot when it comes toclass sizes, but said both the ministry and the boards need to recognize young lives are at stake.

"I'm looking at it and it's very vague," Veal said."It's saying cleaning supplies as necessary, [but] who decides how much is necessary? What kind of supports are teachers getting?"

Veal, who said continuing online learning isn't an option for her family,said she's particularly worried about one of her sonswho received daily one-on-one attention for his special needs.

"What does that mean for the other children? If my child who does need extra help doesn't get extra help then becomes a disruption for other children in that class," she said."It makes it harder for them to learn, for them to follow the rules."

She said her sons have learned to wear a maskeven though they aren't required to at their age.

Veal said barring the use of cubbies will also be a problem in winter when wet boots and clothes will pile up around students' desks, creating potential slipping hazards.

WATCH | Parent says key details missing

Doug Manuel, a senior scientist at The Ottawa Hospital and an epidemiologist at the University of Ottawa, has two children who plan to start grades 4 and 6 atHopewell Public School.

"We know we're going back with some risk of COVID, but as long as we can have good surveillance and know if cases are getting closer and closer to home, then we can respond appropriately," he said.

Manuel and other parents with medical backgrounds hosted a public Zoom chat to discuss the back-to-school plans. It attractedapproximately 700 participants.

Hesaid he expects the plansto change depending onthe presence of the virus in the community, and he noted measures in Ontario are less stringent that incountries such as Finland and Denmark, wherereopening was successful.