Rapid testing won't reduce parental stress at shuttered London school

London, Ont. -

London’s Lord Elgin Public School has been closed due to a COVID-19 outbreak and will remain shuttered until next Tuesday.

While it is possible rapid testing of students, which was approved by the province Tuesday, may ease the situation, it’s not the only concern facing the school community.

Many families in the area of Lord Elgin struggle with poverty.

Some rely on social services set up nearby the school to meet basic needs.

Jamie Donaldson has four children attending Lord Elgin. She says it has been a difficult few weeks.

“They eat more, you have to help them with their homework. And I have seven kids, so I have to help four of them.”

Jamie Donaldson, a mother of seven who has four children attending Lord Elgin Public School in London, Ont., speaks Tuesday, Oct. 5, 2021. (Sean Irvine / CTV News)

Donaldson says two of her children were close contacts to children with confirmed COVID-19 cases at Lord Elgin.

As a result, all of her kids were sent home days before the Thames Valley District School Board (TVDSB) closed the school.

It’s been a disheartening adjustment for Donaldson’s daughter, Mia, a Grade 7 student.

“I like in-person school.”

But even though online learning presents Donaldson with parental challenges, she says she’d still prefer it to rapid testing.

For her, it is a case of better safe than sorry, adding she doesn’t want to subject her children to testing.

“I rather have children home and struggle for two weeks than have a child who is seriously ill.”

Still, Ontario’s chief medical officer of health, Dr. Kieran Moore, now says voluntary rapid testing of unvaccinated children has benefits.

“Targeted, asymptomatic screening could help detect cases in schools earlier and reduce the risk of ongoing outbreaks or school closures.”

The decision to deploy rapid testing rests with local medical officers of health.

CTV News asked the Middlesex-London Health Unit (MLHU) about the potential deployment of rapid testing at Lord Elgin Public School.

Spokesperson Dan Flaherty indicated the provincial announcement still needs to be processed.

He added senior health officials were not available Tuesday to comment on deploying tests at Lord Elgin.

For its part, the Thames Valley District School Board says it will defer to the direction of health officials.

However, Director of Education Mark Fisher says any “toolbox item" designed to get kids healthily and back to class is positive.

“That helps us get a better handle of a potential outbreak or potential spread to return back to in-person learning as quickly as possible, because we know it is better for our students and teachers to be face-to-face and learning from one another.”