ROCKY VIEW— Premier Jason Kenney announced last Tuesday (July 21) Kindergarten to Grade 12 students will be returning to the classroom in September for the first time since March.
"There is a growing recognition of the serious negative long-term social-economic impact of keeping schools closed indefinitely," Kenney said. "This does not mean there will be no cases in schools. It means we have calculated the relative risks of reopening against the risks of continued closures."
Under the province's back to school plan, schools with no outbreak will rely on measures such as hand sanitizer at the entrances, more frequent cleaning, grouping students into cohorts and planning the school day to allow for physical distancing.
Students and teachers will be required to stay home if sick. Wearing a mask will be optional.
These measures will be tightened if an outbreak occurs. Others may be added, such as reducing class sizes to 20.
Schools will also have access to a province-wide fund of $250 million for capital spending on COVID-19 adaptations.
Rocky View School’s Board of Trustees Chair Fiona Gilbert said it was a welcomed surprise to see the provincial announcement that schools would be open in September.
“Sending kids back to school is a tricky one for families because you do have to balance the risk. We know as soon as you let your kid out of the house you know there’s a risk,” Gilbert said. “We can’t eliminate risk but we can minimize it.”
Rocky View Schools is now focused on opening schools under Scenario One— in-school learning with students returning to classes full time with health measures in place. Gilbert added that schools will be fully staffed in September when students return to school.
“It’s not going to look exactly like it did last September, there’s going to be some guidelines that need to be followed just like anywhere in our communities right now,” Gilbert said. “We’re working to make it as normal as possible within the guidelines we’ve been given by Public Health authorities and government.”
Rocky View Schools has been working on its return to school plan since June 10.
The plan will be fluid, Gilbert said, explaining it will be improved, adjusted and evolved based on the state of the pandemic and directions provided by the provincial government.
She added that the current public health protocols practiced in public spaces are helping to prepare students for the return to school through the introduction of proper hand hygiene, social distancing sticker guides and other measures.
“Kids will start to get used to that and those are the kinds of things that kids are going to be seeing at school,” Gilbert said.
She added that things may change due to the nature of the pandemic and they will be able to pivot to Scenario Two, a mix of in-person and online learning, or Scenario Three, online learning only, as needed. The change to Scenario Two or Three would be decided by the provincial government.
“My understanding in listening to [Alberta’s Chief Medical Officer of Health] Dr. Hinshaw and Minister [of Education Adriana] LaGrange is that they will look to make possible some more local decisions,” Gilbert said. She explained that there is the possibility certain schools could be closed if there is a COVID-19 outbreak or divisions will be directed to engage with specific scenarios based on COVID-19 numbers in a community.
The return to classrooms not only provides students with academic education, Gilbert said, but provides a social and emotional education. Studying together in-person allows for an opportunity for children to connect with each other and staff benefiting their mental health.
“That’s a great benefit to having schools open again— Us all connecting,” Gilbert said.
Parents will also have the option to send their children to schools, engage in online learning or use homeschooling.
Families have many questions about the 2020-2021 school year, Gilbert said, and the school board is working to be able to answer as many as possible. They are also gathering information that can be disseminated to help inform decisions.
Gilbert added the school board is grateful for the input and patience provided by families as Rocky View Schools navigates the new reality created by the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We know the full return to school might be great news for some, and for others, it might cause anxiety and concern,” Gilbert said. “We know it’s an important decision and we’ll do our best to make sure parents have as much detail as possible to help them determine what works best for their family.”
—With files from The Canadian Press
