July 12, 2020
Dear Premier McNeil:
We are concerned Nova Scotian parents. We have appreciated your regular public updates over the past difficult months of the pandemic and your prioritization of public health.

However, we are frustrated by your government’s failure to put children and their right to education squarely at the centre of Nova Scotia's pandemic response. Education is a human right and it is essential for the physical and psycho-social health of our children. It is particularly critical in this province where so many socio-economic disparities remain and where a new generation of well-educated children is the key to a more prosperous future — points your own government has made repeatedly.

We have several concerns.
First: Your government has yet to release a plan to the public detailing what the return to school will look like. We cannot overstate the level of anxiety and stress this is causing families, including critical decisions about whether people can return to work or will be able to continue to work come September. Releasing a plan at the end of July, for school a month later, offers a miniscule window for public input and consultation and no chance to modify that plan based on feedback from parents. This is unacceptable given the critical issues of health and safety, and the huge scope of the changes that need to be made.

Second: While we recognize that in the initial weeks the government was responding to an emergency, we were profoundly disappointed by the quality of the remote-learning experience from March to June. The content was insufficient to accomplish curriculum goals; there was little-to-no actual teaching; there were no consistent expectations or standards for teachers, and no structure or accountability for students. We can all agree that although the flyers sent with Saltwire were an innovative approach to reaching children without high-speed internet, they were absolutely not an effective or robust educational tool.

Third: The economy cannot recover when children are not in school. Parents with jobs cannot do them if their children do not go to school. Even parents who had technology and internet access at home struggled terribly to try to both support their children and do their jobs from March until June. And the impact of this is being borne disproportionately by women. The labour market data from March through June show that women lost their jobs at much higher numbers, but did not return to work when the re-opening began at the same rates as men — because childcare remains a gendered activity still performed predominantly by women. The
loss of the 40 per cent of household income that women provide in two-parent families, not to mention the sole income in single-parent households, is not only crippling for those families, but a major blow to the economy (household spending is 56 per cent of GDP). Childcare is not something that happens organically, and it must be a central policy priority of government.

Fourth: We are deeply troubled by the decision to allow visitors to the province from the United States and provinces outside the Atlantic region with minimal scrutiny and enforcement. This directly threatens the likelihood our children will be able to return to full-time learning. The tourism, hospitality, or ship-building industries are not more important than our children and their fundamental right to the best education we can provide them. But this is the troubling message that we, as parents, have repeatedly received from your government.
If you want Nova Scotia's economy to survive and recover from the pandemic, you will need us, and all the other working parents — and we need schools.

We believe the return to school requires both innovative policy and a major infusion of resources — to acquire and repurpose space; to employ more teachers and staff and others who can act as academic coaches when children can’t be in the classroom, provide new levels of cleaning and other Covid-specifc roles such as taking temperatures; to equip all teachers with a technological device that has standard, supported software that ensures they can deliver remote learning; and to ensure every student has a device that allows them to learn remotely if it is necessary. These are significant costs and we want to know how your government intends to fund them.

What accommodations will be made for teachers and students who cannot risk a return to the classroom as long as Covid-19 exposure remains a risk? What extra support will be provided for the many children (we are told that provincially it is as many as 40 per cent) who could not complete the online learning provided for the last third of last year, and who will now be significantly behind? What threshold will you use to trigger a change from at-school to remote learning? How will teachers and parents be supported?

These are critical questions and we need them answered — today, not in three weeks. We are parents, and also voters, and if your government continues to put our children last, in its response to Covid-19, we will not forget.

Sincerely,
Parents for a Pandemic Education Plan
Including:
Amir Abdelgalil, Sunnyside Elementary parent, Bedford
Roderick Affleck, St. Joseph-A. McKay parent, Halifax
Erynn Ahern, Hawthorn Elementary School parent, Dartmouth
Rania al-Nagar, Sir Charles Tupper Elementary parent, Halifax
Caroline Arsenault, École Mer et Monde parent, Halifax
Sarah Arsenault, Sir Charles Tupper Elementary parent, Halifax
Erica Baker, Citadel High School parent, Halifax
Simon Bennett, Rocky Lake Junior High parent, Bedford
Clare Bilek, Citadel High School parent, Halifax
Trish Brady, Sir Charles Tupper Elementary parent, Halifax
Emily Briand, Sir Charles Tupper Elementary parent, Halifax
Tim Brown, Sir Charles Tupper Elementary parent, Halifax
Catherine Bryan, Saint Joseph-A. McKay parent, Halifax
Michele Byers, Gorsebrook Junior High parent, Halifax
Nanok Cha, Sir Charles Tupper Elementary parent, Halifax
Deryck Chapman, Baddeck Academy parent, Baddeck
Penny Chapman, Baddeck Academy parent, Baddeck
Nicole Chartier Dupuis, Ecole Beaubassin, Beechville
Jame Chipp, Elizabeth Sutherland School parent, Halifax
Suzanne Chipp, J. W. MacLeod-Fleming Tower parent, Halifax
Jennie Colburn, Central Junior High School parent, Halifax
Marcia Connolly, LeMarchant-St. Thomas parent, Halifax
Neil Cronk, Hawthorn Elementary School parent, Dartmouth
Lindsay Delaney, Bedford South School parent, Bedford
Beata Derfalvi, Central Junior High School parent, Halifax
Cassie Dixon, North Highlands Elementary School parent, Dingwall
Cynthia Dollard, Basinview Elementary School parent, Bedford
Peter Duke,  St. Joseph-A. McKay Elementary parent, Halifax
Maya Eichler, Saint Catherine's Elementary  parent, Halifax
Sarah Eyland, Ecole Bois-Joli parent, Dartmouth
Jillian Farris, St. Joseph-A. McKay Elementary parent, Halifax
Chelsi Ferguson, William King Elementary parent, Herring Cove
Elizabeth Fitting, St. Joseph-A. McKay Elementary parent, Halifax
Karen Foster, Dartmouth South Academy parent, Dartmouth
Brian Foster, Dartmouth South Academy parent, Dartmouth
Amanda Fraser, Cabot Education Centre parent, St. Margaret’s Village
Jade Fraser, Saint Joseph-A. McKay Elementary parent, Halifax
Ray Fraser, North Highlands Elementary School parent, Bay St. Lawrence
Sherry Fraser, Central Spryfield Elementary School parent, Spryfield
Susanna Fuller, St. Joseph-A. McKay Elementary parent, Halifax
Michael Fuller, St. Joseph-A. McKay Elementary parent, Halifax
Claire Gallant, St. Joseph-A. McKay Elementary parent, Halifax
Luba Galvanek, Sir Charles Tupper Elementary parent, Halifax
Amie Gannon, Sackville High School parent, Lower Sackville
Jill Girard, Bedford South School parent, Bedford
Maria Gomez, St. Joseph-A. McKay parent, Halifax
Jennifer Greene, Ecole Bois-Joli parent, Cole Harbour
Suzy Hansen, St. Joseph-A. McKay Elementary parent, Halifax
Jovaria Hayat, Oxford School parent, Halifax
Stephanie Hebb, Cabot Education Centre parent, Ingonish
Matthew Herder, Saint Joseph-A. McKay parent, Halifax
Beth Hunter Nugent, Basinview Elementary parent, Bedford
Megan Houston, Sir Charles Tupper Elementary School parent, Halifax
Andrew Hutton, Ecole Beaubassin parent, Tantallon
Kaelan Keys, École LeMarchant-St. Thomas parent, Halifax
Diane Kenny, Ecole du Carrefour parent, Halifax
Heather Langley, Burton Ettinger Elementary School parent, Halifax
Ryan Lapointe, Basinview Elementary School parent, Bedford
Jeff LeBlanc, École Mer et Monde parent, Halifax
Alisha LeBouthilier, École Mer et Monde parent, Spryfield
Amy Legate, St. Catherine’s School parent, Halifax
Véronique Legault, École du Sommet parent, Bedford
Jacquelyn LeRue, Rocky Lake Junior High parent, Bedford
Piia Lintunen, Gorsebrook Junior High School parent, Halifax
Erin MacDonald, Sunnyside Elementary parent, Bedford
Janet MacDonald, Citadel High School parent, Halifax
Alanna MacIntyre,  St. Joseph-A. McKay Elementary parent, Halifax
Connolly MacKinnon, North Highlands Elementary parent, South Harbour
Crystal MacKinnon, Cabot Education Centre parent, Bay St. Lawrence
Catherine MacPhee, Central Spryfield Elementary parent, Spryfield
Rebecca McKay, Tantallon Elementary parent, Tantallon
Alex McLean, St. Joseph-A. McKay Elementary parent, Halifax
Caroline Mann, Ecole LeMarchant-St. Thomas parent, Halifax
Kathleen Martin, Citadel High School parent, Halifax
Trevor Millett, Citadel High School parent, Halifax
Brigid Milway, Hawthorne School parent, Dartmouth
Jane Mulatz, Westmount Elementary School parent, Halifax
Hannah Munday, Prospect Road Elementary School parent, Hatchet Lake
Michael Munday, Brookside Junior High parent, Hatchet Lake
Stephanie Nolen, Gorsebrook Junior High parent, Halifax
Jenty Nyiriak Mawan, Gorsebrook Junior High School parent, Halifax
Kimberley Offman, Sir Charles Tupper Elementary parent, Halifax
Jenny Osburn, St. Mary’s Elementary parent, Aylesford
Marianne Pierce, Sir Charles Tupper Elementary parent, Halifax
Louie Porta, Lemarchant-St. Thomas Elementary parent, Halifax
Kathleen Porta, Lemarchant-St. Thomas Elementary parent, Halifax
Jessica Power Leach, Westmount Elementary School parent, Halifax
Flavio Racca,  St. Joseph-A. McKay Elementary parent, Halifax
Liraz Rahinshtein, Sir Charles Tupper Elementary parent, Halifax
Daphne Randall, Michael Wallace Elementary parent, Dartmouth
Marie Rasmussen, Basinview Elementary School parent, Bedford
Meril Rasmussen, Sir Charles Tupper Elementary parent, Halifax
Jolene Reid, Kingswood Elementary parent, West Bedford
Pattie Reynolds, Fairview Junior High parent, Halifax
Krista Richie, Sir Charles Tupper Elementary parent, Halifax
Meghan Rushton, Saint Joseph-A. McKay parent, Halifax
Mark Rutherford, Oxford School parent, Halifax
Colleen Ryan, Halifax Central Junior High parent, Halifax
Manal Saleh, Sunnyside Elementary parent, Bedford
Karen Schaeffer, Oxford School parent, Halifax
Hariette Schumacher, Bedford Academy, Bedford
Shawn Selfridge, St. Joseph-A. McKay Elementary parent, Halifax
Tom Servaes, Ecole Beaubassin parent, Bedford
Christine Simms, Gorsebrook Junior High School parent, Halifax
Cheryl Simon, Hawthorn Elementary School parent, Dartmouth
Derek Simon, Hawthorn Elementary School parent, Dartmouth
Laura Simpson, St. Joseph-A. McKay Elementary parent, Halifax
Scott Simpton, St. Joseph-A. McKay Elementary parent, Halifax
Nathalie Slater, St. Joseph-A. McKay Elementary parent, Halifax
Odette Smith, Cavalier Elementary School parent, Lower Sackville
Lisa Spinney-Hutton, Ecole Beaubassin parent, Tantallon
Eric Stotts, Ecole Rockingham parent, Halifax
Jolyn Swain, Oxford School parent, Halifax
Noel Taussig, J. L. Isley High School parent, Spryfield
Jena Taylor, Cabot Education Centre parent, Capstick
Tanya Tulipan, École Mer et Monde parent, Halifax
Kathy Urquhart, Preschool-aged child parent, Bedford
Nirah Villeneuve, Rocky Lake Junior High parent, Bedford
Andrea Walton, Bicentennial Elementary parent, Dartmouth
Jenn Warrington, Five Bridges Junior High parent, Tantallon
Raven Watts, Mount Edward Elementary parent, Dartmouth
Sarah West-Andrews, Ecole du Grand-Portage parent, Lower Sackville
Monika Wile, Sir Charles Tupper Elementary parent, Halifax
Maya Williams,  St. Joseph-A. McKay Elementary parent, Halifax
Sarah Williams, Central Junior High School parent, Halifax
Lori Ann Wong, LeMarchant-St. Thomas School parent, Halifax
Erin Wunker, St. Joseph-A. McKay parent, Halifax