Specialized classes that already welcome students are closing one after the other because of the Omicron tidal wave, which does not bode well for the general return to school next Monday.
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“It’s never seen before,” exclaims Amélie Cayouette, a teacher at l’Étincelle, a specialized school in Montreal for young people with autism disorder.
On Monday, 14 out of 26 classes were closed there due to COVID-19, she estimated.
Unlike regular schools, many schools and specialized classes in the metropolis have been open face-to-face since last week, virtual education being difficult with this clientele.
After only a few days, the spread of the virus is already dazzling there. For example, there would be ten classes closed at the Saint-Pierre-Apôtre school.
On Monday January 17, all students are expected to enter class.
Not ready
“We are not ready, we have no plan,” worries Kathleen Legault, president of the Montreal Association of School Directors.
She deplores in particular the absence of clear instructions concerning the management of cases in the school environment and the lack of staff, within a week of returning to class.
“In health, there are levels of shedding. In education, there is nothing. Who do we prioritize if there is too much staff shortage? ”
Meanwhile, students who are unable to wear masks or respect physical distancing due to an intellectual disability visit their special school every day.
“With a profound intellectual disability, there is a lot of saliva […] I have students who don’t speak. If they develop a sore throat, they won’t tell me, ”illustrates Caroline Fauvel-Petit, who teaches at the Victor-Doré school.
“Hello inconsistency”
The Victor-Doré school is practically a “school-hospital”. Nurses, respiratory therapists and other workers from Sainte-Justine hospital come there regularly to provide care to the students, equipped with the protective equipment worn in an outpatient clinic.
But teachers from the same school still do not have access to N95 masks because Public Health does not recommend it for teachers.
“Hello inconsistency” exclaims Mme Fauvel, who has the impression that the specialized classes are still and always forgotten by the government.
At the time of publication, the Montreal School Service Center had not confirmed the number of closed classes. For its part, the Direction de la santé publique de Montréal declined to comment.
– With Daphnée Dion-Viens