It comes as national cabinet failed to reach consensus on principles governing how schools should reopen and remain open, notwithstanding sustained or periodic COVID-19 outbreaks.

Miners Rest Primary School principal Dale Power, who sits on the board of the Victorian Principals Association, said schools were yet to receive advice on the supply and use of rapid antigen tests and N95 masks - two pillars of risk mitigation identified by the Victorian government this week as essential to the reopening of schools "day one, term one".

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"We're still awaiting confirmation on where things are at; it's an evolving situation," Mr Power said. "At the end of the day, the health and safety of our communities is at risk, and we need to acknowledge that.

"Schools do want children back inside the grounds and I'm confident we can do that [safely] provided the right support and resources arrive in due course, but we're running out of time - that's the issue."

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It is understood that while most, if not all, government and low-fee non-government schools in Ballarat have now received air purifiers, many schools would nonetheless have rooms, including specialist areas, not fitted with them due to lack of supply.

Michelle Wilson, principal of Sebastopol Primary School, said she was aware some schools in the region had endeavoured to purchase air purifiers independently of the government as a result.

"We had enough [air-purifiers] for each classroom, some specialist areas and our staff room," Ms Wilson said. "But I am aware of other schools that have gone and bought additional air purifiers."

"As for N95 masks, I'm at a stage where if I don't receive any, I'll be trying to source some myself out of our [school] budget."

Ms Wilson, who is also an executive member of the Australian Principals Federation, said yet more concerning for schools would be staff shortages caused by the Omicron wave; a looming reality compounded by the limited pool of casual relief teachers.

"I know right across schools in Ballarat, principals are having trouble getting casual staff," she said.

"I'm only a small school and I already have two staff who are unwell with COVID-19, and I don't think I've got much of a chance [securing] relief teachers for the first week of school if schools do open."

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With a view to easing the impact of staff shortages within schools, isolation requirements for school staff were relaxed last week, enabling staff who were close contacts to return to school if they were asymptomatic and had tested negative on a rapid antigen test.

The shift in policy has since been criticised as both unsafe - because, as argued by the union movement, it compromises the health and wellbeing of staff and students - and unworkable, due to the nationwide shortage of rapid antigen tests, meaning the prospect of school closures was not remote.

Mr Power said even if rapid antigen tests were available, his school - like Melbourne independent girls' school Toorak College - would probably ignore the revised isolation requirements because they failed to prioritise the health and safety of the students and staff.

"It puts employees in a precarious and seemingly relatively unsafe place and it's counter to what we've been advised [by government] for the last two years as well," Mr Power said.

"We've got an obligation to care for our children, our families and our communities - and this seems to compromise our ability to do that; it's dangerous ground and it's difficult to comprehend where it's heading and what impact it will have.

"So, we'll talk to our staff and arrive at a decision that works for us locally."

With only 20 per cent of children aged five to 11 vaccinated with one dose across Australia, Mr Power added that many parents were concerned about returning their children to school in the revised settings.

"Schools are very susceptible to COVID-19 transmission, particularly since Omicron, and it's a danger to communities," he said.

"Parents are understandably concerned about what steps are in place to keep their children safe and what risk mitigation steps we're taking to reduce the spread of the virus."

Meanwhile Ms Wilson said the risk posed by COVID-19 transmission within schools wasn't limited to students and staff, but extended to parents, families and the wider community.

"Our parents need to know that their kids are attending a safe and healthy school setting," she said. "But our teachers have families as well, and I'm worried about toddlers getting ill [with COVID] because of their older siblings catching it."

To ensure schools can remain open, Ms Wilson said that - in addition to rapid antigen tests, N95 masks and air purifiers - schools required additional occupational health and safety guidance around COVID-19 as an infectious disease.

"There are strict guidelines for all sorts of contagious diseases, from colds and flu to gastro and chickenpox," she said. "We need additional support because it's not [our] area of expertise."

Ms Wilson added that parents needed to prioritise the vaccination of their children.

"To support all the kids at our school, which, like all the schools in this area, has kids with disabilities and other complex needs, please take the time to make an appointment," she said.

"I would very happily support a vaccination program in my own school."

According to federal government modelling, COVID-19 transmission will surge in the community when school returns, with the risk of some child hospitalisations heightened given the extreme transmissibility of the Omicron variant.

The Victorian government is expected to outline its guidance on safe school reopening today, with the adoption of a surveillance testing regime likely.

This would require students to return a negative rapid antigen test result at home before attending school. It's therefore contingent on the supply and availability of rapid antigen tests in schools.

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