CBE puts Alberta’s COVID response on blast in letter to Lagrange, Shandro

CALGARY — The Calgary Board of Education (CBE) is letting the province know how it feels about its handling of the COVID-19 pandemic.

In a letter addressed to Health Minister Tyler Shandro and Education Minister Adriana LaGrange, the school board says it prepared plans for the school year with measures that exceeded the government’s public health measures for schools.

“CBE’s plans were determined with the purpose of prioritizing in-person learning, limiting disruptions due to absences and providing access for students to participate in extra-curricular activities.”

It says, despite these measures taken, schools have seen increasing positive cases and the school board is frustrated by “the lack of coherent provincial guidance being provided to parents and students.”

The school board goes on to say that families have received mixed messages about the risk of COVID-19 and it is left to fill the public health gap left by the government.

“The absence of leadership by the provincial government and specifically the downloading of public health decisions onto individual school boards means that CBE resources are being dedicated to the management of what is a province-wide public health crisis.”

The CBE says after monitoring self-reported cases since the start of the school year, it has determined that it will provide notices of self-reported cases to families.

“Families have been clear that they want more.

“We understand that Alberta Health Services (AHS) has information of confirmed student COVID-19 cases and the schools linked to cases. This information, including dates of possible exposure, should be shared with school authorities.”

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The letter goes on to say the school board expects around 350 self-reported cases of COVID-19 to be linked to over 120 CBE schools — with many schools already approaching a rate of absence greater than 10 per cent.

“In the absence of communication from AHS, the CBE currently has no knowledge of the actual number of positive COVID-19 cases within our schools.”

The CBE is asking the government to immediately reinstate contact tracing conducted by AHS and is advocating for families to have direct access to rapid test kits through AHS.

“We also ask that ministry officials ensure they are proactively working with AHS to develop a strategy for continued access to vaccinations in schools should the vaccine become approved for children under the age of 12.”

Finally, the school board is asking the government to mandate vaccinations for all employees who work in the education sector, saying around 70,000 CBE students are ineligible for the vaccine, and having staff vaccinated is imperative for the continuity of learning.