Parents left in the dark about COVID-19 transmission in schools, Winnipeg mom says

Winnipeg mom Dawnis Kennedy was planning to send her nine-year-old son back to in-person learning in February.

But she says a lack of transparency from her school division and the provincial government about COVID-19 transmission has led to her decision to keep him home for the rest of the year.

"We don't know what's happening in the classroom. We can't actually make a good, informed judgment about the level of risk in the school," Kennedy said. "That lack of information really inhibits our access to public education."

Her son has been learning from home since the beginning of the pandemic. The Grade 4 student will be getting his second dose of the COVID-19 vaccine in February, which Kennedy hoped would allow him to return to in-person learning. 

But she says many parents are now left in the dark about the level of COVID-19 transmission in schools.

Earlier this month, provincial officials announced that schools in Manitoba will no longer notify close contacts of individual COVID-19 cases.

Kennedy says as a co-organizer of Safe September MB — a group that has advocated for increased safety precautions in Manitoba schools throughout the pandemic — she regularly receives messages from concerned parents and teachers about case numbers in classrooms. 

"We're left to trying to rely on anecdotal evidence because our public health system isn't capable of reporting for us," Kennedy said.

On Wednesday, the Louis Riel School Division in Winnipeg reported on its online dashboard that 741 students — 4.7 per cent of the population — were absent for COVID-19-related reasons, meaning they were positive or symptomatic for the illness, or were isolating.

Other Winnipeg divisions provided CBC with numbers of absences, but could not specify how many were COVID-related.

Last week, Winnipeg School Division saw a range of 26 to 28 per cent of students absent, compared to the usual range of 15 to 20 per cent this time of year, the division said in an email.

Lack of certified teachers to fill in for sick staff

Winnipeg school divisions also gave CBC an update on staff sick leave numbers.

Last Friday, Seven Oaks School Division had an overall teacher absence rate of 9.7 per cent. That number was impacted by the weather and road closures, said superintendent Brian O'Leary.

On Monday, 11.5 per cent of teachers were absent in River East Transcona School Division. 

Neither division specified how many of the absences were due to COVID-19.

"Right now, when a teacher is away ill, there is just no guarantee that there's going to be a certified teacher in the classroom," said James Bedford, president of the Manitoba Teachers' Society.

He said MTS has been raising concerns about the lack of certified teachers in Manitoba for years, and the shortage has been exacerbated by the pandemic.

If a student who has been sick or isolating returns to a classroom that doesn't have a certified teacher, that could further delay their learning progress, he said.

Schools would need provincial OK for remote learning

When they announced the change on close-contact notifications earlier this month, provincial officials also said public health might recommend moving to remote learning if case counts rise in schools, but didn't specify a level of transmission or absenteeism that would lead to that.

A Manitoba Education spokesperson told CBC this week that a school-wide shift to remote learning would require a risk assessment from public health officials and approval from Manitoba Education.

"When school officials are concerned about a higher than expected number of reported positive cases or higher than expected absenteeism, they can complete an alert form and consult with public health officials," the spokesperson said in an email.

In exceptional circumstances, when public health does not recommend remote learning, school officials can shift to school-wide remote learning after receiving permission from Manitoba Education.

For now, Bedford says teachers are trying to keep their heads above water, with many helping kids catch up after being absent on top of their regular teaching duties.

"We got this curveball thrown at us in January," he said. 

"And I'll be surprised if we're not filling in those gaps [in learning] in some schools and some classrooms right to the end of June this year."