KITCHENER -- The Ontario government's return to school plan is raising many questions and concerns.
Some say it doesn't give them enough confidence.
Laura Hug, a microbiologist at the University of Waterloo, said her five-year-old son won't be returning to his classroom on Monday. Instead, he'll be staying with his parents as they work from home.
"It's tough," Hug said. "It's not an easy balance, but it definitely feels safer than the alternative right now."
She's concerned that schools will be reopening while the health care system continues to feel the strain of the Omicron wave.
"I don't think the safeties put into place right now are sufficient. I don’t think they're based on data-driven evidence, I don't think that they're reasonable for the resources that we have to us. I think a lot more could be done."
Teachers' unions are also left questioning the measures announced by the government.
"We know that in-person learning is the best for most students, so we want to be back, but we want to be safe," said Jeff Pelich, the President of Elementary Teachers' Federation of Ontario (ETFO) Waterloo.
Staff and students will now get two rapid tests to use if they develop symptoms.
"You test your child, your child is positive, and that's the end of it," said Patrick Etmanski, the local President of the Ontario English Catholic Teachers' Association (OECTA). "All the kids that were sitting with them that day or the day before, eating lunch with their masks off, have no idea."
Union leaders said broader access to PCR testing should be reinstated for the school community.
They're also concern staff absences due to illness could lead to school closures.
"I can't see schools staying open if we have those short staffs, and I think that's inevitable," Etmanski said.
MORE: Ontario parents won't be notified of all COVID-19 outbreaks in schools
Hug, meanwhile, will feel safer about sending her child back to school when he's fully vaccinated, case transmissions across the province are lower, and more safety measures are in place.
"Because I have the privilege to keep my kids home, I will, but that also is a huge issue in equity," Hug said. "We're looking at the ability to people to keep their kids home, to make different decisions, really being based on their economic status, and I think that's a disaster."
