There’s plenty of nerves and excitement in our region as students and teachers prepare to head back to class this week.
Students in New Brunswick will officially resume classes on Tuesday. However, several high schools in the province have specific return dates this week for each grade level.
Tuesday is also the first day of school most school boards in Nova Scotia. Students on Prince Edward Island will go back to school on Wednesday.
Drivers are being asked to slow down with Maritime K-to-12 students going back to school this week.
Dennis Shaw has been a school bus driver in Saint John for over 15 years and is urging people to take caution on the road.
“I’ve had people pass me while my red lights were on and they’ll go around me on the side from behind,” says Shaw. “It’s pretty frustrating.”
In New Brunswick, the fine for driving past a school bus with flashing lights is $480 with the potential for criminal charges.
Over the weekend, many students and parents were wrapping up last minute preparations.
For parent Anthony Brown, back-to-school represents a return to routine.
“[There’s] a little bit more organization for them, good structure, they’re back in class with their friends,” says Brown.
And while most restrictions have been done away with in schools, the pandemic continues to be a factor.
“We know COVID-19 is airborne and will continue to present stresses,” New Brunswick Education Minister Dominic Cardy told reporters last week.
Masking will no longer be mandatory inside any public schools across the Maritimes.
“If there’s a need to pivot because of changing circumstances, we’ve learned really well throughout the course of the last few years how to do that,” Nova Scotia Education Minister Becky Druhan said during an Aug. 25 press conference.
The easing of public health restrictions in schools is a welcome change for Brown.
“I think we have to accept it for what it is --- [COVID-19 is] not going anywhere, but I don’t think the kids need to be restricted as much as they have in the past,” says Brown.
The Department of Education and Early Childhood Development New Brunswick says it will try to gauge by Thanksgiving the impact a pandemic teaching on student learning.
