I had shared some of this in the other thread but figured would share here in the actual school thread.
In NB, for K-8, children will be going to school "as normal", though a modified normal. School will be in class, M-F, regular (and potentially expanded) hours. Class sizes for K-5 will be reduced, and 6-8 as well, if possible. There will be no masks required. There will be no social distancing required. There will be a bubble (presumed to be a single class), and you will only be able to socialized and interact with the students in your bubble. Arrival, departure, recess and lunch times will now be staggered, to reduce the amount of students in one space. As a result, they are talking about expanding the school day to accommodate. There will be no extra-curriculars. They are asking every parent who is capable to drive their children to school, instead of using the bus. For high school students, social distancing will be required, and they will be doing blended delivery - part in class, part online. They will also be required to provide their own computer.
So... these are my thoughts:
So, the main issues as I see it are: first and foremost, we're going into this more or less blind. This situation is still evolving. Plans are up in the air because there's a thousand different scenarios and no one knows how it's all going to play out. At the same time, they are rushing to try and come up with some sort of plan, because they school year is fast approaching. Rushed plans are rarely good plans.
Too many parents think it's going to be their "saving grace", that their lonely kids are going to go back to school, see their friends like they used to, that they'll get the same quality education that they would have before etc... and the reality is, they're not. This school year is going to be extremely stressful for teachers, parents AND students. This will be reflected in the learning. Students aren't going to be seeing their friends like they used to (if they are placed in a different bubble they won't be allowed to see their friends at all), they aren't going to have their sports and activities and they're going to be trying to adjust to a highly different schedule, routine, stressful atmosphere, and for high schoolers, a different learning format. Young students that rely on bussing are going to be exhausted. Where we are, with a lot of rural areas, some/many students already have to get on the bus at 7:30 am. If they fall under the new staggered start time, they will be getting on the bus at 7:00 am, potentially earlier in the winter. That's too early.
Many parents are going to have to deal with the bussing shortage issues and find ways of trying to accommodate their students new schedule into their work schedule. Not to mention the stress of having to take time off work every time your child has a doesn't clear the screening (no symptoms allowed - temperature, cough, sniffles etc...), since they won't be allowed at daycare, either. During cold and flu season, this could be be quite a bit. And of course, two weeks off work if your child is exposed and has to isolate. Students will potentially miss a lot of time because of ^^. And what of the teachers who don't meet screening? Who get sick and are suddenly gone for 1-2 months? Who have a spouse or child who get sick and they have to stay home and self-isolate for 2 weeks? We're short-staffed as it is, and the government has already had to go through and redistribute jobs to try and accommodate the extra staffing needed, so they can reduce the class sizes as much as possible. There isn't a lot of availability left to cover these scenarios. So, either your child's class get shut down, or they deal with a rotation of supply teachers (which has a negative impact on learning).
Furthermore, our province has already announced that if another outbreak occurs, schools will be shut down and revert totally to online learning, for all grades. So, the strong possibility is, is that we start off with this ^^ mess in the fall, and then come winter, we're right back to where we were - children at home, learning at home.
So what are the options? I mean these are my ideas, but they all pose their own issues:
1. Scrap the school year completely. Take the savings and give a dividend to families to help offset the increase in daycare costs. The biggest problem being of course there aren't enough daycare spaces, since let's call a spade a spade, school is largely free daycare.
2. Just do the whole thing online. You eliminate the back and forth and exposure risks. The problems being of course potential quality of learning issues (online doesn't begin to compare to a classroom setting for the majority of learners) and we're right back to daycare issues. What do working parents of daycare aged children do?
3. Move learning outdoors. This was done in many places during the 1918-1919 pandemic, and is being done in some places this year, and is done in other places (yes, even cold places). This would definitely reduce exposure risk, but people will balk and throw a fit at the idea, and there are logistical issues too - families that can't afford quality winter gear for their children, the need for a lower student-teacher ratio due to safety, special needs issues etc...
4. Just do half days. Rethink the curriculum for the year. Just teach the 3Rs only, since they really are the foundation of all other learning, and are the worst to have interrupted. It would make it easier to spread kids out, reduce class sizes, and generally have less exposure. Though there would still be many of the same issues as I initially laid out, and of course... daycare.
so I have no idea what the solution is. I just know I'm so grateful that I'm a SAHM and we homeschool. I feel so bad for my friends who have to deal with this mess. I do know that if nothing else, Covid has done a great job of shining a light on the problem that a two-parent working household presents. Once upon a time, for better or worse, most of this would have been a non-issue since the mother would have been already home, making the situation far easier to deal with.