Parents frustrated over lack of information about school outbreaks

CALGARY (660 NEWS) — Several schools in Alberta are dealing with COVID-19 outbreaks, and little information is being provided to parents.

The province released its COVID-19 return-to-school plan in August, ceasing all contact tracing and ending the requirement for Alberta Health Services (AHS) and schools to notify each other of known cases.

Under the plan, schools are instructed to inform AHS when more than 10 per cent of the population is absent from a respiratory illness.

Ariel Webster has two young children and was recently sent a generic letter from AHS about an outbreak at their school.

“It didn’t give any information on what class, how many classes, or what parents should do,” Webster told 660 NEWS.

Webster tried to gather as much information about the outbreak but was left with more questions than answers.

“I don’t even really know what constitutes an outbreak. Is that one case, or are there ten cases at the school? Should I be worried? Should I send them?”

“It would be nice to know if it is concerning enough to keep our kids home.”

Christine Tracey is immunocompromised and has an autistic son who attends an independent school.

She is disappointed the province is overlooking independent schools that deal with children with special needs and medical complexities.

“There is not good advice for parents. There isn’t good advice for teachers and administrators. I think it’s really hard to put the pressure on a parent to decide whether to educate or not and on a teacher to do his or her best to keep kids safe with no support,” Tracey said.

Jason Schilling, President of the Alberta Teachers Association, says lack of direction from the government is creating chaos that will cause similar disruptions to last year.

“We’re repeating the same mistakes that we had last year, and we should not be doing that,” he said.

“We should be able to find a way that we keep schools, and the people who are in those buildings, as protected as possible so that we don’t get caught in that situation.”

On Thursday, Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Deena Hinshaw was asked why parents don’t have the right to know if there are COVID-19 cases in their school.
Hinshaw said large-scale transmission in schools is uncommon, and these are not locations that drive community transmission outwards.

As of Friday, 5,976 active cases are in those 19 and younger.