Grade 3 students at St. Francis Xavier are pleased to be in their new classroom on their first day of school. -- NEWS FILE PHOTO
mcranker@medicinehatnews.com@mocranker
The Medicine Hat Catholic School Board of Education sent out a survey to parents, with the majority stating they are comfortable with kids being back in school.
The school board received 1,212 responses from parents. Of those, 70 per cent were comfortable or very comfortable with sending their kids back to school.
“The response we got from parents was great,” said superintendent Dwayne Zarichny.
Of the parents surveyed, 83.3 per cent are worried about kids missing out on social interactions, while 59 per cent are concerned about mental health if children cannot return to school.
With regards to busing, 85 per cent of parents indicated they are comfortable sending their child on a bus, provided enhanced cleaning is done.
“While people seem comfortable with buses, it’s clear that there needs to be a good cleaning done to these buses,” said Zarichny.
According to Zarichny, an overwhelming theme was that parents want their children to return to school in a normal environment, as much as possible. Meaning, parents would like their kids to go, play and interact with others, just with more hand washing, sanitation and respiratory etiquette.
Hand sanitizer, hand washing and enhanced protocol for sick students and staff who are sick are considered the most important when returning to school.
“These were things we had addressed in our plans and will be making sure they are taking place,” said Zarichny. “It was nice to see that we were on the right track with our planning.”
As for masks and other PPE, not many parents felt it was important.
“It was less than 100 who responded to that question saying it was a major issue,” said Zarichny. “Most parents were not concerned with masks, but were concerned with sanitizer and that the schools are clean.”
Zarichny added that students and staff will build routines on hand washing, such as every time they enter or leave the school, before and after recess, and when they leave and re-enter a classroom.
As for online learning, Zarichny says the consensus was clear.
“Parents preferred to have their kids in a classroom,” he said. “People feel like their child learns better when in a classroom with a teacher.
“The majority of parents also noted their children were missing out on social interactions.”
