NSTU president concerned about conflict as province announces end to mask mandate in schools

The head of the union representing the province’s teachers says while members appear evenly split over the removal of mandatory masking in schools, there are concerns teachers will bear the brunt of family’s frustrations over the province’s decision.

“You can strongly recommend (masking), but as soon as you remove the word mandatory, I think we’re in for some tough, tough days of argument with people that want to do one thing or the other,” Nova Scotia Teachers Union (NSTU) president Paul Wozney said in an interview Thursday afternoon.

“I don’t envy teachers that kind of conflict at this point. They’re just trying to get kids through to the end as well as can be done… They are exhausted, they are burnt out, they have long run on fumes, and they’re pushing the car to the finish line, they’re not even driving anymore.”

周四上午,教育部nd Early Childhood Development issued a media release announcing the removal of the mask requirement in public schools as of Tuesday, May 24.

贝基·德鲁汉部长说，面具“将继续被建议”，那些选择继续佩戴它们的人将得到支持。德鲁汉还说，即将到来的温暖天气意味着课程可以在户外花费更多的时间。再加上该省的健康和学校出勤数据，“现在是时候在学校中选择面具了。”

德鲁汉在新闻稿中说：“在整个大流行中，我们一直与公共卫生紧密合作，并采取了措施确保员工和学生安全。”“我们强烈鼓励学生和员工继续戴口罩，我们将继续为员工和学生提供支持，并继续提供口罩和洗手液。”

德鲁汉还指出，加拿大的所有省份都删除了学校面具的授权。

在一个给家人的消息published on its website Thursday morning, the province’s Acadian/francophone school board wrote that wearing a mask remains “strongly recommended” indoors when social distancing is not possible. Wozney said he’s seen similar messaging coming from schools within the Halifax Regional Centre for Education (HRCE).

Wozney said because it’s such a polarizing issue, he’s pleading with people to direct any frustrations over the masking decision to their MLAs and to the province.

“We know how deeply divided the views are about masking in the community at large, we know that there are going to be parents whose students are immunocompromised, or maybe the parents at home are immunocompromised, and they’re going to be desperate for masking to continue as often and as robustly as possible on a self-interest basis, like they’re worried about getting sick and dying,” Wozney said.

“我们在某些方面担心推荐掩盖的冲突潜力，因为任何时候都可以选择和辩论的理由，教室就会变成两极分化的地方。这是我对新斯科舍省人民的呼吁，如果您有一种或另一种方式，那么与您的学生一起工作的人对该决定不承担任何责任，请不要将您的不满意引向他们。”

Wozney said COVID-19 has made for yet another difficult school year, compounded by a lack of substitute teachers. While there is a heightened sense of concern that high school students ⁠— particularly those set to graduate ⁠— may struggle if infections rise again due to the removal of the mask mandate, Wozney said there’s a sense of resignation that the time has come to remove masks and teachers must “make the best of it.”

“Schools have remained open physically, but schools have not been their best selves in quite some time in terms of when you have a consistent presence in the classroom in front of a group of learners that know them and understand how to support them,” Wozney said.

“I think we’re all going to wait now with bated breath in hopes that we don’t have a COVID explosion in schools that complicates the end of an already difficult year.”

更新：

Late Thursday afternoon, IWK Health Centre pediatrician Dr. Joanna Holland shared aTwitter线程关于该省决定在该省公立学校中取消强制性掩盖的决定，并指出：“您可能会认为这表明Covid对孩子没有影响，医院没有承受压力。事实并非如此。”

Holland said they’re seeing “exceptionally high numbers of sick children” in the IWK’s inpatient unit. While some patients have COVID infections, others have post-COVID syndromes like MISC-C (multi system inflammatory syndrome), and “a lot” are presenting with other respiratory viruses.

“急诊室中还有更多的孩子需要被看见，但不被送往医院。荷兰写道：“病人也从海事也忙于忙碌的海事中将我们转移给我们。”

“五月下旬，这一卷的患者非常不寻常。感觉更像一月。除了更糟糕的是，除了患者量外，我们还因为事业感染和暴露而继续处理员工短缺。”

Holland said several of her patients have had surgeries postponed more than once. Recognizing that viruses are spread in many community settings and that schools aren’t the “driver,” Holland added that schools they were the last remaining place where masks were required to protect children and staff. She said she’s “doubtful” this decision will improve the situation.

“Public Health continues to RECOMMEND that masks be worn in indoor places, including schools. Kids deserve to return to their normal routines. I am not restricting my own kids’ activities, but they are wearing masks indoors. Masks are a protection, not a restriction,” Holland wrote.

“Finally, a reminder that while most children have mild symptoms from COVID-19 infection, vaccination reduces the risk of more severe symptoms from acute infection AND reduces the risk of MISC-C.”

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