Teachers 'scratching their heads' as high school students head back to class just weeks before summer vacation: union
All high school students are heading back to class full-time Monday as Montreal and Laval return to COVID-19 orange alert levels.
With just weeks left in the school year, students and parents will need to adjust yet again to resumption of extracurriculars, and the return to daily in-person classes.
“I do not understand why we would have to change it up with two and a half weeks left,” said Heidi Yetman, president of the Quebec Provincial Association of Teachers (QPAT).
Yetman says that schools will need to adjust their facilities to accept a greater volume of students.
“There are a lot of things to consider here since classrooms have been set up for half-sizes,” she said.
“Even the logistics of adding in new desks, putting in chairs and reorganizing basically your whole classroom to accommodate (more students) with two and a half weeks left of school … I think that it doesn't make very much sense.”
CTV News reached out to Quebec’s education ministry for comment but did not immediately receive a response.
School environments make up 26 per cent of active outbreaks in the province, the second-largest share of total outbreaks in Quebec, behind workplaces.
While about 1,000 active cases remain in school environments, infections have been gradually declining in recent weeks as teachers and students receive vaccinations.
Currently, 45 per cent of youth between 12 to 17 years old have either received a first dose of the vaccine or made an appointment to receive it.
Still, Yetman says she’d rather the education ministry keep measures tighter while many in Quebec await their second dose.
“Students are being vaccinated, but they aren't fully vaccinated yet,” she said. “So of course, teachers are scratching their heads. Why would we do this for two and a half weeks?”
“We feel like there's a light at the end of the tunnel. So, let's not darken that light by having some sort of outbreak in a school.”
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Work stoppage possible as WestJet issues lockout notice to maintenance engineers' union
A lockout notice issued by WestJet to a union representing aircraft maintenance engineers could result in a work stoppage next week.
'I just can't believe that it took so long': Body found in wreckage 3 months after deadly fire
A man accused of arson in a January Old Strathcona apartment fire is expected to be charged with manslaughter after a body was discovered in the burned building late last month.
No proof man lied to brother about number of kittens born in litter, B.C. tribunal rules
A man was denied a $5,000 payout from his brother after a B.C. tribunal dismissed his claim disputing how many kittens were born in a litter.
Bodies recovered in Mexico likely 2 Australians, 1 American who went missing: officials
Three bodies recovered in an area of Baja California are likely to be those of the two Australians and an American who went missing last weekend during a camping and surfing trip, the state prosecutor’s office said Saturday.
BREAKING London Drugs begins 'gradual reopening' on 7th day after cyberattack
Almost a week after all London Drugs stores across Western Canada abruptly closed amid a cyberattack, they began a "gradual reopening" on Saturday.
Quebec police hand out hundreds of tickets to Hells Angels and other bikers before 'first run' meeting
Quebec provincial police handed out hundreds of fines to Hells Angels members and other supporting motorcycle clubs who met for their 'first run' in a small town near Sherbrooke, Que.
Auston Matthews skates ahead of Game 7, status unclear with season on the line
Auston Matthews was back on the ice with his teammates Saturday.
Russia puts Ukrainian President Zelenskyy on its wanted list
Russia has put Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on its wanted list, Russian state media reported Saturday, citing the interior ministry’s database.
Snakes almost on a plane: U.S. TSA discovers a bag with small snakes in passenger's pants
According to an X post by the Transportation Security Administration, officers at the Miami International Airport found the small bag of snakes hidden in a passenger's trousers on April 26 at a checkpoint.