Are we going to be following social distancing at schools? Will students be required to wear face masks? What happens if a teacher gets sick? Do substitute teachers get to go from school to school to school? If a kid shows up with a slight sniffle, will they be sent straight home? Will there even be gym class?

“There are a ton of unanswered questions,” Hanover Teachers Association President Wendell Head says of the upcoming school year. “And the greater the level of uncertainty, the greater the levels of stress and anxiety.”

Head believes the COVID-19 pandemic is stifling the early preparations and eager lesson planning typically associated with this time of year and that is because teachers are unsure of what exactly to plan for. The Ministry of Education has promised to give some clear direction to school divisions early next month but, until that happens, educators cannot even be sure if the majority of their lessons will be done digitally or in person.

“I’d say there is a lot of worry still out there,” offers Head, “and I don’t think people are looking forward to September in the same way they normally would be.” Brand new teachers and weathered veterans alike will be going into schools with virtually the same inexperience when it comes to dealing with the virus in the classroom.

“We all know that classrooms are the Petri dish of our society," he remarks, "so I think it’s a safe bet that, whatever school looks like in September, it is going to be different than its ever been before.”

While Head is fully aware that the latter half of summer holidays will not be as relaxing for teachers as they would be any other year, he says ongoing regulations have slowed down the usual pace of the season, which may not be a bad thing. He hopes they can enjoy the few remaining moments of July as they brace for the much-anticipated August announcement from the province.