HALIFAX -- For all the speculation that many parents were considering keeping their kids out of school because of health concerns, Nova Scotia Teachers Union President Paul Wozney says, for the most part, there is "no major uptick in student absenteeism."

Wozney adds many pressure points still exist. He says wearing a mask to school is a lot to ask of young students.

Parent Megan Jennex agrees. Her daughter wore a mask both days, even though she's not mandated to wear one.

"She was sent to school with one, as were, according to her, all the other kids in her class," Jennex said. "But most of them did not keep it on, which is kind of hard."

Wozney says high school students having only two long classes in one day is not an ideal environment and physical distancing is hard to manage in small classrooms.

"You are going to see lots of stickers on the floors," Wozney said. "And lots of posters telling us ... we have to be two metres apart. And then you walk in the classroom and based on class sizes, kids are sitting right on top of one another."

Jennex says student crowd sizes are already a major area of concern.

"There's people everywhere," Jennex said. "After school, there are people everywhere. People are leaving the school in big large groups."

Doug Hadley, a spokesperson for the Halifax Regional Centre for Education, says some school buses experienced delays the first two days. It's part of an expected adjustment period given changes to the busing system, he said.

"We reduced the distance that students need to live from the school to be on the bus," Hadley said. "We have 6,000 more students that are qualifying for transportation this year."

For his part, Nova Scotia Premier Stephen McNeil is encouraged by how the first two days of school have gone.

"I'm so proud of all of you because I know this wasn't easy," McNeil said Wednesday during a news conference in Halifax. "I hope yesterday helped you to see there are supports there for you and your children and that teachers and principals have your children's safety top of mind."

The premier also said teachers, staff administration and students all displayed a level of courage by returning to school during a pandemic.