Local school boards and Chatham-Kent's top public health official all maintain that area schools continue to be safe.
The public and Catholic school education directors have said students in Chatham-Kent currently going to class will continue learning in-person, despite the number of COVID-19 outbreaks at schools.
As of Thursday, there are four schools across the municipality with small outbreaks (17 cases in total) and the local education directors said there won't be an opportunity right now for parents to switch their children back to remote learning from home unless there is a strong case for it. Education Director of the St. Clair Catholic District School Board Scott Johnson said there may be an opportunity down the road but it's a very slight chance.
"In secondary it's very difficult to switch platforms because of the amount of time we're currently into a semester. There remains some opportunity at the end of semesters if spaces remain. In elementary it's more of a case by case basis based on urgent need but we believe we've addressed most of our moves at this point," said Johnson.
Education Director of the Lambton-Kent District School Board John Howitt said two students could trigger a school outbreak and moving people around could be more trouble than it's worth.
"To open up movement and transition from face to face learning into remote learning would have a greater negative impact on student learning with that change going on. So, unless there are some very specific cases, we are maintaining class lists as they are today to the degree possible and we'll constantly review that with the data of confirmed cases within our schools," said Howitt.
Howitt and Johnson said school sports will also be moving forward with safety protocols in place. Chatham-Kent Medical Officer of Health Dr. David Colby pointed out that there have been zero COVID-19 outbreaks so far related to sports teams in the community because they have precautions in place.
"We've learned a thing or two since the pandemic started," said Colby.
Colby also said exemptions for masks at school are based on the honour system and no doctor's note or proof is currently required, but he has the authority to change that. He said he could introduce tougher mask documentation measures for schools in the future if necessary but added the school cohort system is working to isolate students who come down with symptoms of the virus.
"Compulsion would be the last measure that would be undertaken," he said. "We are hoping to convince people of the merit of this without heavy-handed measures."
Howitt and Johnson said there are very few students with mask exemptions. Howitt said his families must go through a rigorous process with the principals before a mask exemption is granted and more are denied than are approved. Johnson said mask exemptions are not handed-out easily at his schools and his students could be safely accommodated and distanced within a class based on their masking requirement.
Both school boards also acknowledge there have been hiccups with a pilot program at Ursuline College in Chatham, Tilbury District High School, and Ridgetown District High School to allow students to get tested at home for COVID-19. Johnson said Ursuline failed to give out the test kits in time because of a misunderstanding. Howitt said conditions weren't ideal for effective testing initially because the tests showed up the same day of its first confirmed case and Ridgetown hasn't had a positive case yet.
The public school board reported 87.2 per cent of its staff are fully vaccinated while the Catholic school board said 88 per cent have received two shots.
Howitt, Johnson, and Colby reiterate that COVID-19 transmission is not happening in schools and the cases are coming from the community.
Meanwhile, Chatham-Kent Health Alliance President and CEO Lori Marshall said the flow of traffic at the COVID-19 assessment centre and walk-in clinics is steady. Marshall noted an average of 166 people have visited the assessment centre in Chatham each day, the pop-up clinics have seen about 200 visits a day, and the paediatric assessment centre has seen about 20 children and youth each night.
