POETRY
QUARTER
Anxious reopening Serving the Glebe community since 1973 August 14, 2020 www.glebereport.ca
TFI@glebereport
Page 25
ISSN 0702-7796 Vol. 48 No. 7 Issue no. 526 FREE
By Roger Smith
Kids are heading back to school and Glebe bars, restaurants and stores are serving customers inside again, but the champagne is still on hold – any celebration of getting back to normal is tempered by fears that reopening could lead to a resurgence of COVID-19 as it did in the U.S. Like many parents, Kate Swan is agonizing over whether to send her children back to class. “At this point, we’re probably leaning to keeping them home,” said the mother of a 10-year-old girl and a six-year-old boy at Mutchmor. “It’s the risk of COVID to them and to us. We also have grandparents in town that we’d like to be able to see. It’s a combined family risk we’re worried about.” Pascale Pergant is worried too, but she’s leaning the other way. Her twin 13-year-old boys are heading into Grade 9 at Glebe and her 10-year-old daughter is starting Grade 5 at Mutchmor. “Unless we see some glaring reason not to, I think we’ll send them back,” she said. “They really need to be social with friends, and they need help from the teachers – they didn’t do very well with the home learning in the spring.” Elementary schools will go back full time, five days a week. Highschool students will be in cohorts of 15; classes will be in-person one day, online the next. Masks must be worn in Grade 4 and up; they’re rec-
Despite the risk of COVID, Mike Johnson and Pascale Pergant think their kids need to be back in school. Ten-year-old Elliot, who’s going into Grade 5 at Mutchmor, sits between her twin 13-year-old brothers, Owen and William, who are starting Grade 9 at Glebe. PHOTO: ROGER SMITH
ommended but not compulsory for younger students. Social distancing will be in place in classrooms and hallways. The biggest controversy – elemen-
Your thoughts?
Parents, students, teachers: what are your thoughts on school reopening in September? Send an email to editor@glebereport.ca.
tary-school classes will be as big as before, with as many as 30 in one room. By August 10, about 200,000 people had signed a petition demanding that class sizes in Ontario be smaller. “My fear on the health side is the risk of the class sizes,” says Angela Smart, who wonders if her two kids will be able to adjust to wearing masks
Full service online grocery shopping & home delivery... 7 days a week
www.metroglebe.com 754 Bank Street | 613.232.9466
Continued on page 2
What’s Inside
Pandemic puppies in the Glebe �������������������Page 6
Amid ongoing uncertainty, Glebe parents are wrestling with an emotionally fraught decision whether to send their kids back to school in September. Mutchmor Public School may soon be a hive of activity – but with a few bees missing? PHOTO: LIZ MCKEEN
and keeping their distance from classmates. “Are we expecting too much from children in asking them to learn to change the way they play?” Elspeth Tory, a mother of two, fears temporary shutdowns are inevitable. “There are just so many opportunities for people to get infected, even
Glebe fencer Kelleigh Ryan........................Page 33
NEXT ISSUE: Friday, September 11, 2020 EDITORIAL DEADLINE: Friday, August 21, 2019 ADVERTISING ARTWORK DEADLINE*: Wednesday, August 26, 2019 *Book ads well in advance to ensure space availability.
