ST. JOHN'S, N.L. — The president of the Newfoundland and Labrador Teachers’ Association said Wednesday he supports the closure of high schools on the northeast Avalon Peninsula, but doesn’t think it goes far enough.
“It was the right decision to close high schools in the metro St. John’s region and increase access to testing for affected students, staff and close contacts of confirmed positive cases,” Dean Ingram said in a news release. “However, given the numerous connections and overlaps within and among metro school communities, we should be doing more to get the community spread under control.”
He said parents, students and teachers are concerned about the current COVID-19 outbreak, which has seen 43 positive cases since Sunday. Several of the cases are students at Mount Pearl Senior High.
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“ As I have said before, schools are where all of the homes, workplaces and interactions in our communities come together,” Ingram said.
He asked whether the two-week “circuit breaker” — a crackdown on business openings and social gatherings — announced by Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Janice Fitzgerald Tuesday can be effective if the only precautions tightened are those that apply outside of schools.
The release said the confirmed community spread of COVID-19 in the metro area highlights the NLTA’s repeated concerns about the level of Public Health precautions in schools, adding that students and staff do not live their lives in a school “bubble.”
NLTA Questioning Decisions For Schools After Confirmed Community Spread of COVID-19. pic.twitter.com/eySEMYkALW
— NLTA (@NLTeachersAssoc) February 10, 2021
The NLTA is asking government and Public Health officials to rethink how it can be safe to continue with students and school staff spending extended periods of time in close quarters, often with 30 plus students in a classroom, with little or no physical distancing and weak or no mask requirements.
It’s also asking why teachers in those schools for which in-class instruction has been suspended would not have the option to work from home, particularly in light of explicit recommendations and advice from Fitzgerald on Monday and Tuesday.
“Public Health has directed the suspension of in-class instruction for 13 metro St. John’s area schools, and government and the school districts have invested in technology that would allow teachers to work from home in such circumstances,” said Ingram. “Government’s K-12 Education Re-entry Plan states that teachers ‘may’ be required to be in attendance at school in the event of a suspension or cancellation of in-school classes. However, Dr. Fitzgerald very clearly articulated during the most recent COVID-19 briefings that anyone in the metro area who is able to work from home should work from home.
“It is our position that teachers at those schools should have the option of working from home when they have the means and ability to do so.”