Parents were not apprehensive on the first day of school, based on the group of parents and children walking into Laity View elementary on Tuesday afternoon, despite an increase in COVID-19 case counts in recent days.

Many of them mentioned high vaccination rates as giving them more peace of mind than last school year.

“I’m comfortable. We had good safety measures last year,” said Laurie Hansen. “And we have good vaccination rates.”

“My son was very excited to go back.”

Eri Baillie was walking her two children Musashi, 10, and Nene, 8, into the school, and all wearing masks, but Eri said she is not worried.

She said she trusts the safety measures the school has in place, and said people are now accustomed to all the protocols.

“I feel safe. We really didn’t have issues in June, before the summer break,” she said.

Tiana Dear also said she is comfortable sending her boys back to school, and back to their weekday routines.

“I think our province has done a good job, and people are following the rules,” she said.

“They need to get back, and they need the structure of school.”

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Some expressed their relief at life returning to some normalcy, after being turned upside down by the pandemic, and their hopes for a more typical school year.

“I feel the kids need to get back to being kids,” said Marlene, a grandmother who was dropping off her loved one.

“They have been through enough. We put so much fear into them in the last year.”

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