The surge in COVID-19 cases raises fears of a shortage of staff in schools during the return to class scheduled for January 10. Actors in the school network believe that distance education should last more than a week in anticipation of a large number of teachers and students placed in isolation.
The Legault government is staying the course for the moment on distance education only for the week of January 3, at the primary and secondary levels. The return to class is still scheduled for the following week, January 10, despite the explosion of infections due to the Omicron variant.
“Everyone agrees that teaching in the presence is preferable, but it seems to us more and more improbable for January 10, so there are so many positive cases”, nuance Kathleen Legault, president of the Montreal Association of School Managers (AMDES).
Without being able to quantify precisely the number of cases of COVID hitting the network, because of the holiday break, she indicates that a large number of school staff have reported having been placed in isolation in the past few days. It is not just those infected who must isolate themselves: their close contacts, such as family members, must also stay at home for 10 days, even if they have no symptoms.
It’s starting to get a lot of people in isolation. Especially since the 12,833 cases of COVID-19 reported on Tuesday only represent a portion of the real cases, given the lack of places in screening centers and the number of people who have resorted to rapid tests, which do not appear in the official balance sheet.
Students with disabilities
“Before opening schools, we must ensure that we have the staff to teach, to support the students, and above all to ensure their safety. Because if we open schools without having enough people, we definitely endanger the safety of students, ”says Kathleen Legault.
This safety requirement is even more glaring for specialized schools, which must welcome disabled students in class from next week, January 3, underlines the president of AMDES. The Ministry of Education maintains the return to the presence of these children despite the outbreak of COVID-19 cases, because “the students of these schools are more in need of support services”, indicates Florent Tanlet, press secretary of the minister Jean-François Roberge.
Concern reigns among the staff of specialized schools. These disabled students need close care that promotes the transmission of the virus, explains Amélie Cayouette, a teacher at L’Étincelle school in Montreal. “We have children who lack autonomy. They are unable to keep the mask on. There is no distancing. We dress them, we feed them with a spoon, there are staff who change their diapers. We are worried for them and for us, ”she said.
Towards a third dose
The Minister of Health, Christian Dubé, nevertheless raised the hopes of school staff: he announced Tuesday that education workers will have priority access to a third dose of the vaccine. This news was greeted with relief in the school system, which was the main source of outbreaks in Quebec during the holiday break.
Even though school staff will be able to make an appointment this week to be vaccinated, the protection provided by this third dose will be felt after January 10, underlines Catherine Beauvais St-Pierre, president of the Alliance of professors. from Montreal.
To this must be added the fears associated with the quality of the air in the classrooms, specifies Sylvain Mallette, president of the Autonomous Federation of Education (FAE). “We welcome the access of school staff to the third dose of vaccine, but we must solve the glaring problem of ventilation by installing air exchangers in schools,” he said.
Safety first
Even if everyone aspires to return to class as quickly as possible, Catherine Beauvais St-Pierre believes that it would be wise to extend the distance learning period planned for the beginning of the year 2022. “People need to be safe. Distance learning is not ideal, but can allow staff to work even in isolation, ”underlines the union leader.
In the school network, it is considered that Minister Christian Dubé’s desire to have certain essential workers infected with COVID-19, but asymptomatic, work in “face-to-face” work applies to the health network. School personnel placed in isolation can already work – remotely – since the start of the pandemic.
At the time of writing, the Department of Health and Social Services had not responded to questions from the Duty on this subject.
“We are often told that we are essential in education. It will quickly be necessary to confirm what is coming in the network. January 10 is tomorrow, time is running out. We say to the Minister of Education: “We are available to reflect with you,” says Josée Scalabrini, president of the Federation of Education Unions (FSE-CSQ).