Open Letter to MNA Andre Fortin : Masks at Symmes

 

We live in the Deschênes  sector and have a daughter at Symmes in grade 7. Our issue concerns the directives of the ministry of education and the changes within the first weeks of the school year. Initially, the ministry's directives allowed for students to be separated enough to allow them the space to safely remove their masks within their classroom. 

A new directive from the ministry of labour mandated that the teaching staff required more space to circulate without a mask, hence the space between students was reduced to well within 2 meters.  Our daughter was very uncomfortable with the closer proximity to other students not wearing masks. We contacted the school to ask that students wear masks throughout the day.  Ms Laine, the principal, responded that the school was following all the directives of the ministry of education -- and changes would have to come from that source.

We have discovered that a Symmes student has tested positive, and, while this was not in our daughter’s class, our concern is increasing. This is a difficult time, but to deal with this pandemic we need to employ the basics of distancing and masking.

We ask here that, as our MNA, you advocate for safety and decreased transmission rates within our schools and our society.

Dennis St Pierre & Kathleen Jean

Aylmer / Deschênes