Parents and disability advocates fear a failure to consider the needs and vulnerabilities of children with disability will force parents to choose between their child's safety and education when school returns on Monday January 31.
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Their concerns follow the release of the Victorian and NSW government's plan to safely reopen schools in the face of sustained waves of coronavirus transmission within the community.
The measures announced by the governments for mainstream and specialist schools were identical but for a recommendation that children in the latter undergo daily - as opposed to twice weekly - surveillance testing.
Rebecca Paton, whose profoundly disabled 16-year-old daughter Sarah attends a specialist school in Ballarat in Victoria's Central Highlands, said she was yet to receive confirmation as to how the testing regime would work - assuming rapid antigen tests would be supplied in time - and whether it would prove enough to prevent her daughter from contracting COVID-19, in light of the uncontrolled spread of Omicron within the community.
"There's just not enough information out there about the plan for school - everyone's scrambling and hoping it will be okay; we feel like sitting ducks," Ms Paton said.
"I'm incredibly frustrated about the lack of rapid antigen tests, with the numbers [of cases] so high, it's become a matter of when, not if, our household will get COVID-19 if we send kids back."
Ms Paton said she held equal reservations about feasibility of the government's mask mandate for children in grade three and above.
"For my daughter, it won't be a problem," she said. "But there are many children at her school that are on the autism spectrum who hate having their head touched."
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Amy Wilson, who works in the disability sector and whose son also attends a specialist school in Ballarat, said she shared these concerns.
"Our schools go back in a week, and I don't feel like they're ready to go," Dr Wilson said. "Not having [rapid antigen tests] ordered a long time ago was a huge oversight on the part of the government."
"As for masks, a lot of our guys have trouble wearing masks for either behavioural reasons or breathing issues, so the risk of COVID transmission is a very big problem."
For these reasons, both mothers were yet to commit to sending their children back to school come Monday.
Compounding their concerns was the reality of their children's waning immunity to COVID-19 infection, despite the fact both children were double-vaccinated.
Like most young people with disability aged 12 years and above, their children completed their primary vaccination course in September last year - well ahead of other children in their age group.
But because ATAGI is yet to approve booster shots for people with disability who are under 18 years of age, they can't access a third dose, notwithstanding their initial prioritisation in the vaccine rollout.
"It's now been more than four months since my son had his second vaccination," Dr Wilson said. "The fact [my son's] not eligible for a booster shot, despite his vulnerabilities, is hugely concerning."
Ms Paton, likewise, said she was worried Sarah's compromised immunity made her acutely susceptible to severe disease were she to contract COVID-19.
"When [Sarah] gets sick, she gets really sick," Ms Paton said. "I'm worried if my daughter does get sick, I won't be able to look after her; I'm worried she'll go to hospital and I won't be allowed to be with her."
The findings of several leading studies show that a third dose of an mRNA vaccine is essential to restoring immunity and protection against Omicron infection in people more than three months post their second dose.
In recent weeks, the United States, Germany, Hungary and other countries have followed the lead of Israel in making booster shots available to all children aged 12 to 17 years.
Mary Sayers, chief executive of disability advocacy group Children and Young People with Disability Australia, said the failure of the federal government to make boosters available to children with disability in the same age group was "unfathomable".
"We've raised this issue with the [federal] government multiple times," Ms Sayers said. "People with disability, including young people with disability, were meant to be at the front of the queue for vaccination."
"As we know, people with disabilities - because of their medical vulnerabilities - are more likely to suffer severe disease if they get COVID."
Ms Sayers added that while the Victorian government's return to school plan appeared to distinguish between mainstream and specialist schools, that did not mean the needs of all children with disability were acknowledged, let alone accommodated, within the plan.
"It's important to note that the Victorian plan doesn't include daily rapid antigen tests for all students with disabilities," she said.
"The majority of students with disabilities go to mainstream schools - and the extra testing requirements don't apply to those schools; so, it's not across the board at all."
In light of the growing reluctance of many parents of children with disabilities to send their children back to school, Ms Sayers said the Victorian government urgently needed to provide inclusive, accessible remote learning options.
"The last thing we want is families having to choose between their child's health and education," she said. "But many are in that situation now, which will further entrench the disadvantage their child will face in education unless inclusive learning options are made available."
"We need a really clear plan for back to school for students with disability - the importance of continuity in education is clear, but we can't be putting [children's] lives at risk."