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Chatham

Opening schools safely a 'tremendous amount of pressure' for health officials

Talks continue to safely open schools across Chatham-Kent in September.

CK Medical Officer of Health Dr. David Colby said he and the school boards are trying to come up with a plan that makes sense. He added the successful opening of schools is "a tremendous amount of pressure" considering the uncertainty surrounding a possible second wave of COVID-19, the fact that young people need an education, and having them at school is essential to working parents. However, Colby said things will be okay as long as the number of cases in Ontario keeps dropping.

"If a second wave happens, everything changes. If there's a surge, in other words, a resurgence of the first wave, everything changes," Colby said. "My primary responsibility is to keep people safe and healthy. So, I'll have to balance these things very, very carefully," he added.

Colby said the school boards have been very cooperative as they discuss safe ways of getting back to the classroom.

The St. Clair Catholic District School Board said it continues working on its plan to safely open schools in September.

Director of Education Deb Crawford said the plan "will result in a model for the safe return to school that puts the safety and wellness of our students, families and staff first.” She added the team of professionals with expertise in emergency management, school programming, and school administration is nearing completion of an extensive risk assessment.

The team is working from four main planning tables:

- elementary and secondary school operations, which includes health and safety, mental wellness and staff workload;

- logistics, which includes sourcing and distributing personal protective equipment (PPE) and supplies, and school signage regarding distancing and hygiene;

- school programming and planning, which includes environmental scans and risk assessments related to programming and school modelling; and

- finance/administration, which includes cost, procurement and tracking.

Crawford also said safe transportation of students is also a critical element of the planning process and the team is working with the Board's transportation manager to develop a plan for the safe busing of students. She added the school model will be finalized in mid-August.

The Ontario government released three proposals in mid-June for how schools will operate in September but said it doesn't expect classrooms will be made up of more than 15 students right away.

Colby also said he strongly believes the next phase of the provincial reopening will include looser coronavirus health and safety rules for outdoor activities and larger gatherings allowed. He believes indoor activities will continue to have higher scrutiny because of the potential of transmission and the re-escalation of infection.

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