Educators respond to Alberta’s back to school plan, delaying end of COVID-19 protocols

CALGARY — The reaction is pouring in from educators after the province’s back to school plans were announced Friday morning, along with the call to delay the end of COVID-19 public health measures.

Alberta Teachers’ Association (ATA) President Jason Schilling held a zoom conference to share his thoughts. He says the ATA is pleased to see the government delaying the end of COVID public health measures like testing and mandatory isolation for six weeks but still says more can be done.

“This was a significant point of concern for many teachers and for parents. However, we believe that tracing measures should also remain,” Schilling said. “[Atleast] until a significant majority of students and the community have been fully vaccinated.”

Schilling also says there are some positives to the government’s plan — it’s included some things the ATA was asking for, such as daily screenings and in-school vaccination programs — which begin Sept. 7. But, there’s still some work to do on that front as well.

“There are still several issues that were listed in our expectations that need to be addressed, such as looking at learning and mental health concerns for students in the fall. We look forward to having further discussions with the government around that,” Schilling said. “We are also concerned about the use of the 10 per cent threshold of absenteeism in order to bring in enhanced controls. Waiting, for example, for 200 students in a large city high school to be infected at the same time [in order to take action] is a recipe for disaster that could easily be avoided with a lower threshold.”

RELATED ARTICLES:

• Alberta bails on plan to eliminate remaining COVID-19 health measures

• Alberta to implement in-school vaccine campaign this fall

• Masks, testing, vaccination campaigns: ATA calls for COVID-19 measures in schools ahead of Sept.

Schilling also says it’s disappointing that the province is passing responsibility off to school boards with its plan. He says the plan is forcing school board trustees to make and “take the heat” for tough decisions.

Meanwhile, Chief Superintendent for the Calgary Catholic School District (CCSD) Bryan Szumlas says he’s not surprised the government gave autonomy to school boards like they did last year. He says the CCSD will likely end up doing more to combat COVID-19 than what the province has laid out in its plans.

“Let’s face it, Calgary is the hotbed of COVID and measures that we put in place in Calgary most likely will exceed provincial measures,” Szumlas said. “There are several rural communities that haven’t had to deal with hardly any cases of COVID, so the measures that they have there may look different.”

Szumlas also says parents in Calgary are divided on how to proceed this school year, but because the province has given authority to school boards on how best to fight the virus, the CCSD will be doing what it thinks is right for students.

“Some people want masks, and on the other side, there’s a large group of people that don’t want masks,” Szumlas said. “So, we’re going to ask for people’s patience, we know that we are not going to please everyone, but we want to err on the side of safety.”

Szumlas says the CCSD has been here before and knows what to expect.

“This is not any different from last year. Last year, if you looked at our provincial resumption guide, it gave individual school authorities the autonomy to make decisions to best protect the students in their region.”

However, in a one-on-one interview with 660 NEWS, Education Minister Adriana LaGrange says school will look, and feel, a lot more like it did pre-pandemic.

“Children will be able to attend sports events, they will be able to take part in extracurricular activities, have music class, et cetera,” LaGrange says. “All those things that they really enjoy, they’ll be able to get together with their friends, and their colleagues for teachers.”

LaGrange says students and parents should still be careful going into the school year.

“Of course, we are still highlighting the need to have good hygiene, to continue to monitor yourself before you come to school,” LaGrange says. “If you’re not feeling well please stay home, and we’re asking parents to keep their children home if they’re not feeling well.”

She also says, to parents who may be concerned about the provincial plan, the Ministry of Education is taking all of its guidance from Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Deena Hinshaw.