Maritime schools to see biggest change in new COVID-19 restrictions

Fredericton -

Maritime schools are seeing some of the biggest changes, with extended breaks and the cancellation of extracurricular activities for the unforeseeable future.

On Tuesday, students protested pandemic restrictions putting a stop to organized sports in Woodstock, N.B.

"To finally be told that if we get the vaccine we'll be ok and to have them taken from of is kind of upsetting,” said Cooper Jones, a grade 12 student.

With COVID-19 restrictions tightening in the Maritimes this week, schools and sports are seeing the brunt of the changes.

"Yesterday, the announcement that we're going to move to advanced safety measures which includes returning to cohorts, that's a lot of work, and it has to happen on a dime with almost no time to prepare,” said Nova Scotia Teachers Union President Paul Wozney.

Kids from kindergarten to grade six in New Brunswick will finish classes this week while grade six to grade 12 will continue until the Christmas break and all extracurricular are put on hold.

In Nova Scotia, changes were made to only some extracurricular activities.

"Their first reaction was more-so how is this going to affect them immediately and how was this going to affect their friends and so it's a little bit frustrating" said Angela Khan, a parent of three from Dartmouth.

Khan felt the restrictions were arbitrary, allowing some sports to take place but music classes to be cancelled.

"I have a child who would normally do cello practices outside of school and it would mix a couple of students from a variety of schools in our area so I have just been notified that those will have to be cancelled completely or perhaps they'll do a zoom format which is not exactly the same,” she added.

Teachers are hoping for more time so they can prepare for what the new year, and the Omicron variant, may bring in the coming weeks.

"Teachers would suggest that government would consider a K-12 extended break for all students to allow teachers, administrators, and districts time to prepare for our school to look quite different in January,” said New Brunswick Teachers Association President Connie Keating.

Meanwhile, Paul Wozney says they're taking restrictions day-by-day.

"This has been an absolutely brutal two years on staff the constant changes to how schools operate, limitations on how you can teach, how you can support students, and do your job, it's been emotionally draining in a way that teachers have never experienced,” said Wozney.