ARNPRIOR -- There are widespread calls from parents and medical professionals for the Ontario government to open schools and resume in-class learning after no update was given during the province’s reopening announcement Thursday.

"Knowing that our cases are going down, hospital admissions are going down, our vaccination rates are going up, and we’re not addressing schools? I think it’s a real concern," says Dr. Kwadwo Kyeremanteng, an ICU Physician in Ottawa.

Dr. Kyeremanteng says there are three main arguments for reopening schools that he feels are being ignored.

"(Kids) don’t seem to spread COVID as easily as older adults, schools weren’t a major source of outbreaks, and we’ve never been in a position like this where we’ve had so many people vaccinated. There is some concern that our kids are falling behind, and this is our future," said Dr. Kyeremanteng.

Arnprior resident Marnie Belboul Franolla is a mother of three kids, aged 5, 9, and 14, and feels her kids are safe returning to school.

"It is very disappointing that the kids can’t go back to school or nothing has been said of it. I was hoping for more clarification on that yesterday," says the stay at home mom.

Belboul Franolla says it is hard homeschooling kids in Grade 9, Grade 4 and Senior Kindergarten, adding the time away from school is having an impact on more than just their education.

"My eldest is finding it very hard because she can’t see any of her friends and being a teenager in high school, that’s so important," says Belboul Franolla.

Dr. Kyeremateng has three young children of his own and admits to seeing changes in their behaviour.

"Less engaged, more introverted, more swings in mood."

The lack of news also pushed major children’s medical institutions such as CHEO, Sick Kids Hospital, and the Canadian Paediatric Society to issue an open letter to the Ford government, calling for schools to be reopened immediately, summer school learning to occur in person, and schools to resume in September with routine scheduling.

"I fear that we’re mortgaging their future when realistically their risk of being a major source of spread of COVID, or even getting sick of COVID is exceedingly low," says Dr. Kyeremanteng.

For the family of five in Arnprior, Belboul Franolla is still waiting for any news that will allow her family to return to some sense of normalcy.

"Honestly I just want to see them back in the classroom, finish out the year. Then let the kids have the summer to play with their friends outside, do summer camp."