Is there any real point to Surrey re-opening this school year?
Consider the potential threat it poses, and that there are only 30 days left before the school year would have naturally closed on June 26, taking into account the stat holiday and pro-d day that are already nestled in there.
And that’s if schools were to re-open today (Thursday) and remain open five days a week.
They’re talking about alternating days for students in kindergarten through Grade 5, and re-opening for one day per week for students in grades 6 through 12.
You have to give credit to Superintendent Jordan Tinney and his crew, who are trying to make lemonade out of this rotten lemon of a situation in which they are no doubt feeling tectonic pressure to put the apple back on the teacher’s desk, so to speak.
But it’s patently absurd to expect small children to understand, let alone adhere to, social distancing when so many adults have proven themselves incapable of doing the same.
Add to this the fact many parents will choose to have their children sit this one out until the new school year starts in September, the number of school days and pandemic-related safety requirements that must necessarily be imposed in the classroom, and the monumental leap of faith all parents must take in the hope some irresponsible parent won’t send their sick child to school just to get the kid out of their hair.
Is a dry run into the unknown really worth the risk?
Nova Scotia has decided not to re-open its public schools, so the precedent is there.
This pandemic could teach us a lot by summer, so would it not be more prudent to take a breath, and make good use of the precious time between now and next September to make certain we get it right?
–Now-Leader
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