GuelphToday received the following letter to the editor from teacher and president of the Upper Grand Elementary Teachers Federation of Ontario, Gundi Barbour:
I am a teacher and September has me worried.
September is a magical time in education. It is filled with anxiety, renewal and anticipation. For educators such as myself, with over 30 years experience as a teacher, this is our New Year. We look forward to it, plan for it and lose sleep over how to best introduce students to learning and keep them engaged. We look forward to meeting ‘our’ kids and welcoming them to a carefully curated learning environment.
Not this year. Teachers are still planning and they are very anxious. This year there is dread as well.
This year we find ourselves in the middle of a global pandemic. Since March we have learned to distance ourselves from others, to wash our hands frequently and correctly, to wear masks and in general to try to keep safe. Hospital and long term home visits are severely restricted. Travel is all but banned. Socialization is limited. Schools are about to re-open and I am very worried.
Our schools will not be able to follow any of the social distancing which we have come to expect in public spaces. Classrooms are often at capacity with no room to distance or for students to store materials. Any educator can tell you that fall means many new germs and outbreaks of sniffles, flu and stomach complaints. Now we have added COVID-19 to the mix. How will we be able to address the threat of this menace? The answer is apparently, “We don’t know.”
Under the direction of the Ford government School Boards have been able to dip into reserve funds to augment their budgets. However, this means that other programs for which the money was being saved, cannot be implemented. This money is not meant to hire educators and does not stretch nearly far enough.
Our students and families deserve to be attending school in safe learning conditions. The staff in their schools deserve safe working conditions. Imagine going to the supermarket and finding wall to wall customers at this time? The public would be aghast. Yet we will have schools filled to the brim without adequate ventilation or hand sanitation, without proper distancing, and students are expected to learn and engage.
Our region has been fortunate to have very little community transmission of COVID-19 durng the past month, keeping our students safe will keep our community safe. We need direction to ensure school safety before we regret it.
Let’s make this a September to remember fondly, not with tears of grief.
Gundi Barbour
President, Upper Grand Elementary Teachers Federation of Ontario
