With multiple COVID-19 variants currently circulating in Simcoe County, one local mom who is trying to take steps to protect her two children and their classmates is hitting roadblocks.
Erin (she asked her real name not be used to protect the identity of her children) is a nurse in a Simcoe County health-care institution. The institution is currently dealing with an outbreak of a COVID-19 variant, although Erin has tested negative. Her two children are registered as in-class learners.
“It’s put me in kind of a sticky situation here because I’m sending them back, but I don’t know if I’ll be exposed to this new variant,” said Erin. “We have all the proper PPE (personal protective equipment), so I’m being extra vigilant and careful about it, but at the same time I still don’t know because it’s a new variant.”
While she has consistently tested negative and wears full PPE while taking all advice and precautions from the health unit, she worries about what will happen if that changes, especially since one of the few things known about COVID-19 variants is they are more contagious and easier to spread.
Erin said when an investigation was done at her work to determine how the variant got in, it was found that no one who tested positive had travelled.
“It’s still a mystery. They’re still investigating how it could have got into my work,” she said.
Erin’s children have been enrolled in in-class learning since September. While the public school board had parents fill out a survey in December and offered the option for students to switch modes then, Erin didn’t choose that option at that time as the variant wasn’t yet a concern in Simcoe County.
“In December, the variant wasn’t spreading in the community, and my work was not in outbreak,” said Erin. “Things have changed. Things change month to month with this virus, and people’s situations change.”
Now that the variant is here, she’d like to switch her children to remote but is being told by the public school board it isn’t possible as she missed the December deadline. She was advised by the board that her children can do asynchronous learning from home instead.
“That’s the one where there’s a Google Classroom with assigned work every day with minimal teacher instruction. One of my kids requires extra help. That’s not really an option for us,” said Erin.
She said one of her children struggles through asynchronous learning to the point where it’s harmful for their relationship.
“It’s a situation where I have to decide: Do I teach her, or be her mom? She resists big time and can be combative. Parents don’t always make good teachers. Teaching academics takes a level of discipline. I like to pick my battles as a parent,” she said.
While the public board has fielded multiple requests this week from parents wanting to switch their children from in-person learning to remote learning after the back-to-school date announcement, it is not allowing switching at this time.
“Unfortunately, we have so many kids, but only so many classes, so students can learn asynchronously through their teacher’s virtual classroom,” said Dawn Stephens, superintendent of education with the Simcoe County District School Board. “Then, when the parent determines it’s safe for them to return to in-person, they can return to in-person.”
Erin said that in order for her to feel comfortable sending her kids back to in-person class, she would want to see the school boards be able to implement smaller class sizes by hiring more teachers.
“With so many kids doing remote, there is room in the schools to do smaller class sizes, but ... they have the same class sizes as before we were in a pandemic,” she said.
While there are some changes being made to protocols in schools for kids returning on Monday — including all students from junior kindergarten to Grade 12 being required to wear masks — Erin doesn’t believe it’s enough to protect kids from the spread of variants.
“I don’t see the government wanting to do a whole lot. They’re doing things that don’t cost them money. Anything that costs money, they don’t want to do it. I’m not too optimistic about it,” she said.
As of Friday, Erin is considering her options, which include taking a leave of absence from her job.
“I love my job. I never thought I would be in this situation where my family is now going to suffer. I’m at a point now where (I feel), where do I draw the line? Everyone in health care is facing this now,” she said. “There’s a lot of new anxiety now with this new variant. We’re all really careful when out in the community. You don’t want to be the person who brings it in.”
She said she will be calling the health unit to talk through her options and get advice about how she should handle her situation.
“I’m hoping it will help guide my decision. If you want to do things the right way and not be scrutinized later, you can call public health and ask,” she said. “I haven’t quite decided yet. I’m looking to them to guide me.”
The problem, said Erin, is there are many parents who might not be weighing all their options as carefully as she is and may make decisions solely based on their personal needs, which could put other kids at risk.
“It’s in the community. (Even if) I’m doing the right thing, another person may not. So, either way, it’s probably going to make its way into schools,” she said.
