Safety in COVID Times

A few years ago, during the dispute with the McNeil government, teachers were invited to anonymously contribute stories about their classroom experiences to a blog called “Teachers of Nova Scotia”. 

Recently, Nova Scotia schools reopened to in-person learning during the middle of what is arguably the most serious wave of the pandemic yet. The Omicron variant has been shown to be highly transmissible, airborne, and although hopefully a milder version of COVID, it still has the potential to cause serious illness and fill hospitals. Most kids and educators want to be in school, but there are still widespread concerns about in-person learning, such as: children not yet being vaccinated; confusing messaging from the government regarding ventilation, masks, and cohorting; and a lack of contact tracing in schools.  

Educators for Social Justice – NS would like to hear about how in-person schooling during Omicron is impacting you, the students, and the rest of the staff at your school. Submissions should be no more than 800 words, should not identify individuals or schools (indicating a rough geographic area is okay) and should focus on how the current safety situation is affecting learning conditions.  Submissions may be lightly edited and will be published anonymously on the ESJ-NS website. Send your submission to teachersofnovascotia@gmail.com