End of restrictions has some students and parents worried about safety of Manitoba schools

A new poll suggests that remote learning was hard for most families; however, now that restrictions have ended some students and parents are worried about the safety of schools.

Brie Villeneuve walked out of school on Monday morning.

The Grade 12 student and Manitoba Students for COVID Safety organizer is asking for mandatory precautions, like masks, to be reinstated at schools

"It is a little bit disappointing but I know I have a voice and it will be heard if I keep going," Villeneuve said.

This is a position not many of her peers seem to support.

"Out of the population of the school, I don't think there's much of a crowd that's really, you know, trying to get more restrictions," said Grade 12 student Gabe Rubanny.

A new Angus Reid poll done in partnership with the CBC shows seven-in-10 parents with children between the ages of six and 17 agree that remote learning has been hard on their family.

"Every parent that I know is under strain, Whether their child is at home, home schooling, whether they're in remote learning or whether they're face-to-face,” said Dawnis Kennedy, parent and co-organizer of Safe September.

Despite the challenges that come with having her nine-year-old son learning from home, Kennedy said in-person school is too high of a risk.

She said there are ways to make schools safer, like extending winter break when the risk is high or offering outdoor or summer sessions when the risk is low.

"I would rather be in safe schools, but if the option is between remote learning and unsafe schools, I'll choose remote learning,” Kennedy said.

Villeneuve didn't mind remote learning herself.

"I think the worst part was the inconsistency of going back to in-person to online to in-person to online, it was really confusing and tough and it makes for a draining process,” Villeneuve said.

She knows other students feel differently, like Rubanny who said he had no motivation to do remote learning at all.

"If they decide to bring the COVID measures back and they decide to have 10 feet of social distancing, I’ll take that any day over being at home all day,” he said.

In a statement, a provincial spokesperson said that Manitoba Education and Early Childhood Learning continues to work with education partners to make sure the impacts of the pandemic are part of the long-term planning.

The spokesperson said analysis is being done to determine the impacts of the pandemic on student achievement and well-being.

“Schools and educators continue to assess the students in their classrooms and build individual plans for their learning as necessary,” the statement said.

“Safe schools funding has been available since September 2021 toward assessing and addressing learning impacts.