I am a teacher in a Saskatchewan high school. My school has over 800 students. I love my job and I can't imagine doing anything else, but I spend much of my time lately full of anxiety for what the coming school year will hold. The stress is affecting me physically and mentally. I have trouble sleeping and every day I am anxious about how I can go back to work and still keep my daughter safe. It is also affecting my family as they also worry about what the future holds. I have a two-year-old daughter who has Down Syndrome. She has already spent a good portion of her life in hospital and on oxygen. I am extremely concerned about going back to work in the fall, as I don't feel proper procedures are in place to protect me as staff and, in turn, protect my daughter.
The guidelines that have been released are seriously concerning. They lack any specific information on how exactly we as staff and students are going to be kept safe. Other businesses have received specific instructions for PPE and distancing, but nothing specific for teachers and students. It wasn't up to individual industries to come up with their own guidelines. Restaurants, golf courses, hairdressers, and many others were given specific instructions on how to keep their staff and customers safe. Why haven't schools?
The guidelines also seem to contradict information being given to the general public about how to protect themselves from COVID-19. Dr. Shahab has stated that masks help reduce the spread of the virus when you can't keep the recommended six ft. distance from each other. He has even recommended that people stock up on masks for the fall and always carry one in their pocket. Yet, the guidelines released for schools say that class sizes will not be reduced to allow for proper distancing and they also say that masks are not required. There are more safety precautions in place at my local grocery store, where I spend a very minimal amount of my time than there will be in a classroom that I will spend multiple hours in every day. Arrows on the floor, plastic partitions, masks, sanitizer, fifty per cent capacity, temperature checks of employees, working from home, and virtual meetings are only some of the safety precautions that are currently being taken in other businesses and public places. Why do schools not need precautions in place?
A post on the Saskatchewan Health Authority Facebook page advised people to "Avoid the 3 C's" which it stated were "closed spaces with poor ventilation, crowded places with large numbers of people gathered, and close contact with people outside your household." All of those describe the situation in our classrooms. So, the general public is supposed to avoid those things, but students and teachers don't have to? These things are apparently unsafe, but it is ok for students and teachers?
Teachers recently backed off on our contract negotiations with the government in the last school year as we realized dealing with a pandemic required the government's time and attention. Teachers stepped up and moved to remote learning to continue to educate our students at a moment's notice. In many cases, using new methods never used before, but we did it for our students. Everything we do is for our students. I don't think it is unreasonable for those teachers to want to be safe in their workplaces and want our students to be safe.
As of now, I am unaware of any precautions in place-other than more cleaning than normal. If there is a plan for my school division, teachers are unaware of it. My schedule is set, and I am going to be teaching over 100 students in the first semester. I am very concerned about being in such close contact with so many people without any precautions in place.
We do not exist in a bubble. There are many examples from around the world of schools that have returned and what safety precautions they have or have not taken and what the results have been. I would hope that these experiences would be used to inform our government and allow them to implement guidelines that will do their best to ensure the health and safety of all students and staff in our schools.
Again, I am very concerned about going back in the fall without any direction from our government. This message has been sent to various places including Scott Moe and Gord Wyant and from either I received no reply or a generic form letter. Something needs to be done. Teachers should not have to be spending their precious time with their families living in fear of the future.
-- Leah Baiton
The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the position of this publication.
