Nova Scotia’s government has stopped contact tracing in the province’s schools but the task is being picked up by a parent’s group.
Nova Scotia Parents for Public Education (NSPFPE) is a volunteer run group and say they are dedicated to a strong and safe public education system. The group says they are gravely concerned about the government’s current approach to schools and Omicron.
CBC Nova Scotia’s Tom Murphy speaks to Nova Scotia Teacher’s Union President, Paul Wozney.
“We hear a lot about the layered approach that will make schools safe, but the layers are never specified,” said Stacey Rudderham of NSPFPE. “Under 12s have not had time to be fully vaccinated, PCR testing is not being made available to teachers or students, social distancing is not possible in classrooms regardless of furniture, ventilation is non-existent in most schools, contact tracing no longer exists, and school case notices will no longer be issued.”
The group has created a website and Facebook group that will collect anonymous exposure information from parents and guardians of children who test positive for COVID-19. It then gets listed in their public database. The group also collects school bus exposures.
The information collected only includes the school name or bus number and the regional centre for education it’s found in.
“Our main goal is to help inform and protect each other.” says the parents group.
Nova Scotia students and teachers returned to the classroom on January 17 and were welcomed with free three-ply face masks when they returned to class along with some classrooms having HEPA filtration systems installed.