TORONTO —
With the new school year beginning over the next few weeks in Canada, the recent rise in COVID-19 infections across the country has prompted many parents to reconsider whether to send their children for in-person at school this fall or keep them at home for online learning or home-schooling.
With daily new cases across Canada rising from a low of less than 300 in mid-July, to approximately 2,400 on Friday, CTVNews.ca asked Canadians whether they had recently changed their minds about their childrens’ schooling.
The responses were emailed to CTVNews.ca. Not all have been independently verified, though CTVNews.ca did contact several respondents for additional details.
The question of how parents plan to approach the school year is complicated by the fact that the availability and rules surrounding online learning vary across the provinces and by school board, as do the deadlines for choosing which stream parents want their children in this fall.
This means some parents have had to make their choice before parents in other jurisdictions, and in areas where online learning did not seem to be a viable option, some parents have elected to simply home-school their children.
Overall, the responses showed that, across the country, many parents share concerns about the recent rise in COVID-19 infections and have either recently reconsidered, or are now reconsidering whether to send their children back to school for in-person learning.
“A couple of months ago I was on the fence about sending my child to primary at a local school or home-school him. As the COVID cases started increasing across Canada and now in my province, we have decided he will be home-schooled this year,” Erin Macvicar of Sydney, N.S., a mother of four including a 5-year-old about to start primary school, emailed to CTVNews.ca.
For parents of young children, the decision is complicated by the fact that no vaccines are yet approved for children under 12.
While approximately 72 per cent of eligible Canadians are now fully vaccinated, according to the CTVNews.ca coronavirus vaccination tracker, some parents cited concerns about vaccination rates among teachers and other school personnel.
“With the way things are rapidly changing we are no longer comfortable sending our children back to the classroom this fall,” wrote Ashleigh Kannenberg Martin of Orangeville, Ont. “Prior to reconsidering a return, we would want to know what percentage of teachers and administrators are vaccinated in each facility.”
Kannenberg, who said she and her husband had been looking forward to sending their children back to in-person learning, also said she would like to see specific information on ventilation capabilities at schools.
“With what is unraveling in the U.S., we as parents feel that our best plan of action is to be more cautious than not,” she wrote.
WANTING A DO-OVER
Facing deadlines for choosing between online and in-person learning, some parents found themselves regretting decisions made earlier in the year.
“My school board requested in June that I made a decision, and I did decide to send my daughter back in person after a year of virtual school. Now I am struggling to switch her back to online given the fears of the fourth wave,” wrote Ahilia Singh Morales, whose anxiety is heightened by the fact that she works in a hospital emergency room.
A complicating factor for many has been different school boards’ varying deadlines for selecting in-person learning.
The Toronto District School Board, the country’s largest, had a deadline of Aug. 12, but other boards required parents to make their decisions much sooner.
“We had to let the school board know by April and we felt it was too soon to make a decision, so our children were automatically enrolled in physical school for their school board,” wrote Rachel Brethour-McMichael of Blenheim, Ont. Her daughters, aged 13 and 7, attend school in the Lambton-Kent District School Board, which imposed an April 21 deadline for choosing virtual learning.
Since then, they have attempted to switch to virtual learning, but have been told there is no room left, said Brethour-McMichael.
“My option now is to sit on a wait list, not knowing or being able to prepare my children for what type of schooling they’re taking in just a couple weeks,” she wrote.
BACK-TO-SCHOOL GUIDELINES
While the rising infection numbers were cited by the majority of respondents as a reason to reconsider keeping their children at home, some also mentioned dissatisfaction with provincial back-to-school guidelines.
Ellie Lo, a York Region mother of four, including two unvaccinated children going into Grades 3 and 5, said both the rising numbers and Ontario back-to school guidelines meant she was no longer comfortable sending her younger children back to class.
“Classrooms and buses could be at full capacity, and wind instruments/singing lessons would be permitted, but we all know schools cannot accommodate 2-metre distancing,” she wrote.
For Kim Tessier of Navan, Ontario, whose twins will be entering Grade 8 in the fall, a key issue is the lack of vaccine mandates at the school board level.
“If the Delta variant is of such great concern why are vaccines not being mandated for the staff and kids to help curb the spread?” she wrote. “I have issues with there being so many other mandatory vaccines for kids in school but this is not one of them.”
NO CHOICE IN THE MATTER
Some of the responses revealed the difficult situation faced by parents whose work situation means that they cannot stay home with their children.
“My 8-year-old daughter will be returning to school in person. I am a single mother than has to work full-time to pay the bills. I have no choice,” wrote Jess Wood of St. Catharines, Ontario.
“I’m scared and hesitant because my father passed away in January 2021 from COVID-19, but what else can I do? I just have to trust the guidelines and hope for the best,” she added.
Paulina, a mother of two boys who lives near Hamilton, Ontario, said she had kept her two sons at home for virtual learning last year and hoped to again, but that she had been told by her employer she would have to return to work in person.
“I don’t feel comfortable sending my kids to school but I do want to keep my job,” she wrote.
WAITING FOR VACCINE APPROVALS
For some parents who had hoped to send their children back to school, the current risks have now made the issue of in-person learning a non-starter until vaccines are approved and distributed to children under 12.
Stephanie Savoni and her husband had kept their 9-year-old son at home in Windsor, Ont. since the pandemic started, but had notified the local board ahead of a June 4 deadline that he would be attending in-person learning this year, as they were comforted by the rapid pace of vaccinations in early June.
“We watched as case counts went down in June and July, and felt confident in our decision,” Savoni wrote. “In recent weeks however, the case numbers are climbing in Windsor-Essex (County) and we are feeling extremely concerned about our decision.”
Complicating the matter for her is that her husband is a transplant recipient, which raises questions about the efficacy of his vaccination. She said stricter action should be taken to avoid a repeat of last year, when rising case counts saw schools sending students home.
“While it would be an unpopular decision, it would be reasonable in my view to have all children do remote learning until they are vaccinated,” she wrote.
Shannon Twiss of Langley B.C., a mother of a 10-year-old, agreed, in a response that was brief and to-the-point.
“We won’t be sending our child until there is a vaccine,” she wrote.
HOUSTON (AP) — Brian White scored in the second half to rally the Vancouver Whitecaps to a 1-1 draw with the Houston Dynamo on Wednesday night.
Houston (12-9-8) took a 1-0 lead into halftime after Ezequiel Ponce scored on a penalty kick in the seventh minute of stoppage time. Ponce’s third goal this season came after Amine Bassi drew a foul on Whitecaps midfielder Pedro Vite following a video review. It was Ponce’s sixth career appearance, all starts.
Vancouver (13-8-7) scored the equalizer in the 73rd minute when White, who entered in the 60th, used assists from Fafá Picault and Ryan Gauld to find the net for the 13th time this season. Picault’s assist was his fifth, matching his career high for a single season. Gauld’s assist gives him a career-best 13 on the season.
Yohei Takaoka, who had clean sheets in his last three starts, finished with one save in goal for the Whitecaps.
Steve Clark saved three shots for the Dynamo, who remain one point behind Vancouver in the Western Conference standings.
Houston, which was coming off a 4-1 victory over Real Salt Lake, has allowed just 33 goals this season.
Vancouver — 6-2-2 in its last 10 matches overall — leads the all-time series 10-9-6.
The Whitecaps remain on the road to play the Los Angeles Galaxy on Saturday. The Dynamo travel to play Austin FC on Saturday.
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. (AP) — Tom Pearce and Nathan Saliba scored in the second half — the first goals of their careers — and CF Montreal rallied for a 2-2 draw with the New England Revolution on Wednesday night.
“In the second half, the guys came out a little more ambitious and above all, more connected,” Montreal head coach Laurent Courtois said. “It was a great second half of resilience and fighting spirit. Nathan and Sam were impressive.
“Impressive in covering the gaps and compensating for the teammates, and the individual defending – yes it’s true, it is a lot of weight on their shoulders, but that’s the job.”
New England (8-16-4) jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the 24th minute on Bobby Wood’s third goal of the season. Teenage defender Peyton Miller notched his first assist in his fourth career start and sixth appearance and Carles Gil picked up his ninth of the season. Peyton, at 16 years, 315 days old, is the eighth youngest player in league history to record his first assist.
The Revolution took a two-goal lead in the 35th minute and held it through halftime when 19-year-old Esmir Bajraktarevic took a pass from Gil and scored his third goal of the season and career in his first full season in the league. It was the 73rd regular-season assist in Gil’s career, tying him with Steve Ralston for the most in club history.
Montreal (7-12-10) pulled within a goal in the 54th minute when Pearce scored off a free kick after defender George Campbell drew a foul on New England’s Mark-Anthony Kaye. It was the first goal for Pearce in his third career start and fourth appearance.
“Playoffs are the goal. Maybe it wasn’t in the best form, but in the end, we are picking up a point,” Pearce said. “We came into this game confident, ready to play our own game. Everyone tries their best, whenever the players are called on, we are always ready, and we are always giving it our best.”
Montreal scored the equalizer in the 68th minute on the first career goal by Saliba, a 20-year-old midfielder. Saliba has made 34 starts and 48 appearances with Montreal in his two seasons in the league. Campbell snagged his second assist of the season and the third of his career.
“It’s an incredible feeling, it’s a goal I’ve been waiting for a long time. I’m extremely happy that I was able to score it and that it can help the team take this important point on the road,” Saliba said. “Pearce’s first goal gave us really good momentum and we kept up the pressure to go for a second goal. We got more solid defensively, and we came back ready after halftime, to push for these 3 points.”
Aljaz Ivacic finished with four saves in goal for the Revolution.
Jonathan Sirois stopped four shots for Montreal.
New England beat Montreal 5-0 on the road on Aug. 24.
New England leads the all-time series 16-13-4. Montreal improves to 5-8-2 on the road against the Revs.
The Revolution travel to take on Charlotte FC on Saturday. Montreal returns home to host the Chicago Fire on Saturday.
ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Adolis García hit a two-run home run in the sixth inning, Cody Bradford pitched seven strong innings after the worst start of his career, and the Texas Rangers beat the Toronto Blue Jays 2-0 on Wednesday night.
The win kept the defending World Series-champion Rangers alive in the AL West race, trailing first-place Houston by 10 games with 10 to play.
García launched an inside sinker over the left-field wall off Toronto starter Bowden Francis (8-5) after Wyatt Langford singled.
“He swings hard, he swings a lot,” Francis said of García. “I guess the velo was dropping during that time.”
Bradford (6-3) allowed five hits and no walks while striking out six.
The seven shutout innings are the most in a game during his two-year career. He was knocked out of his previous start after allowing career highs in hits (nine), runs (eight) and homers (three) in 3 2/3 innings in a 14-4 loss at Arizona.
“Throughout the week, you’ve got to try and digest what happened, see where I can make adjustments, whether it was just game plan went wrong or just poor execution, or a little bit of both,” Bradford said. “Then you flush it.”
Bradford was perfect through four innings before Alejandro Kirk opened the fifth with a smash back to the mound that caromed off Bradford’s left foot and rolled into right field for a single. It extended Kirk’s hitting streak to a career-high 12 games.
Spencer Horwitz’s double to left-center put runners on second and third with no outs before Bradford retired the next three batters.
Blue Jays manager John Schneider credited Bradford’s “deceptive fastball.”
“When you’re throwing 89, 92, you’ve got to have pretty good deception with that at this level,” Schneider said. “Kept us off balance.”
Kirby Yates pitched a perfect ninth inning for his 31st save in 32 opportunities.
Francis, who took no-hitters into the ninth inning in two of his previous four starts, allowed a double to Marcus Semien, the Rangers’ first hitter of the game. He gave up five hits and one walk in six innings.
Francis has a 1.96 ERA in nine starts with 54 strikeouts and seven walks since being moved back into the starting rotation in late July.
“I don’t even want to get complacent, on cruise control,” Francis said. “Just keep attacking.”
TRAINER’S ROOM
Blue Jays: SS Bo Bichette was a late scratch with a right middle finger contusion suffered during infield practice. Schneider said the team will get back x-rays on Thursday. Bichette was activated Tuesday following a calf injury and played for the first time in two months, going 2 for 5 with one RBI at the plate. … INF Will Wagner (left knee inflammation) will have the knee scoped on Thursday. Schneider said Wagner should be ready to start spring training. Wagner, son of former major leaguer Billy Wagner, was acquired from Houston at the trade deadline.
UP NEXT
Rangers rookie RHP Kumar Rocker (0-0, 2.25 ERA) will make his home debut against Blue Jays RHP Kevin Gausman (12-11, 4.02) in the series finale. Rocker allowed one run in four innings at Seattle last Thursday in his major league debut.
