Another Alberta school board says no to piloting new curriculum

CALGARY (660 NEWS) – Another Alberta school board has announced it will not help pilot the province’s new draft curriculum released last month.

Rocky View Schools (RVS), which represents thousands of students in Airdrie, Cochrane, Chestermere and surrounding communities said Tuesday the burden and stress of the pandemic on parents and staff and the school system led to the decision.

Board Chair Fiona Gilbert said there were other reasons.

“We have also heard concerns from stakeholders about some of the specific topics and approaches being utilized in the draft and are not prepared to put it in front of students at this time.”

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The school board said it completed a preliminary review of the draft curriculum and are still willing to provide feedback to the government.

“RVS will focus our efforts on bringing groups of teachers and school administrators together to engage with the draft curriculum and provide feedback to government through this mechanism,” said Superintendent Greg Luterbach.

“It will help us better understand the nuance in the drafts and provide opportunities for teachers to help identify needed changes to the draft curriculum.”

Gilbert is also encouraging stakeholders to review the current draft curriculum and provide specific feedback to the government to ensure the curriculum meets the current and future needs of students.

The Calgary Board of Education (CBE) recently announced it would not participate in piloting the draft, one of about a dozen school boards to do so.

The draft curriculum has come under fire for its approach to race, Indigenous history and colonialism and for apparent instances of plagiarism.