Parents, school divisions react as students return to classrooms

Students, teachers and staff members in more schools throughout Saskatchewan were to make their return to the classroom on Tuesday.

Saskatchewan is the only province in the country not pushing back its return to the classroom, much to the dismay of the NDP, which says returning at this point is a “mistake.”

Many parents 980 CJME spoke to on Tuesday were glad their kids were returning to the classroom, adding their kids are vaccinated for a reason and they feel comfortable in their kids’ school being a safe, clean space.

“I support him going back to school right now. I think that they should close schools absolutely last if anything,” Lisa Glass said. “There are vaccines, kids can all be vaccinated (and) teachers can be vaccinated, (so) I don’t understand why they wouldn’t be in school.

“It’s so damaging for kids not to be going to school.”

Regina Public Schools reminded families to use a rapid antigen test to make sure their kids were healthy enough to return to class.

Classes resume on Tues, Jan. 4. We encourage all school families to complete an at-home rapid test prior to the return to school. Most families will have had access to these tests through schools. Here's a list of where to get them for free. https://t.co/JTgHh1WmL1

— Regina Public Schools (@RegPublicSchool) January 3, 2022

For some parents, there were nerves about what a possible outbreak could mean with how contagious the Omicron variant can be.

“I am nervous, for sure, but I have confidence in the precautions done to make sure that the kids are safe,” said Lauren Rae.

“I don’t know if it’s the right decision or not. It’s a hard one to make. I just hope things don’t come crashing to a halt and we end up with a bunch of sick kids in a week or two.”

For parents with jobs that make it impossible to work from home, they hope their kids will be staying in school more this semester and throughout 2022.

“For parents who work full time, it’s hard to keep up the kids’ activities at home,” said Jenny Huerto. “I like it that we are different because we are Saskatchewan and other provinces, they can do whatever they want in their province. So I like our decision that we have our kids in school.”

The provincial government said it will be sending 250,000 rapid tests to schools across Saskatchewan, as well as medical-grade surgical masks.