Parents back early end to school year, even if it comes with disappointment

Lachine residents Jennifer Grier and Marc Nisbet are among the Montreal-area parents who learned Thursday that their kids won't be returning to school until September.

"It's hard to imagine that schools would open with the amount that the virus is spreading," said Grier, but still she's disappointed to know her 12-year-old son, Charles, is going to miss the excitement that comes with finishing Grade 6.

"He's going to miss that celebration with his friends and that aspect of closure to a whole chapter of his life."

Nisbet said the plan was to let Charles go to school, but after seeing how much would be changed desks two metres apart and a laundry list of new rules to follow it was looking less appealing.

"Teachers can do miraculous things, but in the current set-up, I don't see it being very productive," Nisbetsaid.

Alistair, their eight-year-old, was also going to return to school because,Nisbet said, both his boys were in need of socializing after two months at home.

He saidhis boys are probably losing a few of the skills, like handwriting, that they were mastering at school. But they are budding in other areas like finding ways to stay entertained.

"Now I don't get the 'I'm bored' anymore," he said. "They have found ways to fill in their time."

No school until September

With the return to class voluntary, many parents were expected to keep their kids home. But others, like Grier and Nisbet, were looking forward to getting back into the familiar routine.

Premier Franois Legault said on Thursday that the metropolitan Montreal region has not yet seen the reduction in hospitalizations and deaths from COVID-19 needed to allow schools and daycares to reopensafely.

• Schools in greater Montreal area will be closed until September

There are now more than 20,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19 just in Montreal, but there are plenty of off-island hotspots as well.

Montreal Mayor Valrie Plantesaid that the decision will have"social impacts, like the dropout rate and domestic violence, stress or anxiety," but given the number of infected in the city, she says it's the right thing to do.

"We know that this decision may be experienced differently, experienced as a shock for many families," she said, adding that the city is looking at how it can support parents and children.

Looking ahead to the fall

What classes will look like in the fallis still not clear, but the executive director of the Quebec English School Boards Association (QESBA), Russell Copeman, said some of the preparations already in place may carry over.

"I think it's the responsibility of school boards to plan ahead," he said on CBC Montreal's Let's Go on Thursday.

"So a lot of the preparations that were made could still be valuable in the fall."

He said QESBAhad reservations about opening schools on the island of Montreal in the current context, and though it is hard for families, "we think it is the right decision and we applaud the government of Quebec for taking it."

LISTEN |QESBA's Russell Copeman reacts to Quebec's decision

Shelley Reuter, a sociologist and single parent of a boy in Grade 4, said she also agrees with the decision to delay the reopening of schools.

However, she said she is frustrated by the amount of time it took to come to that decision forcing teachers to "do back flips and somersaults to try to meet the deadline that kept changing."

As for her son, she said he misses his friends and teachers, but understands what's at stake.

Adrienne Butt, who has four kids in elementary school and has been working from home, said waitinguntil September is the right thing to do.

Still, she added, it's discouraging to know her kids won't get to experience a bit of normalcy before they're home for the summer.

"I was leaning toward sending them back, but hadn't really made a final decision yet," she said. "We were really going with what public health was recommending."