‘Parents wanted certainty’: Education Minister defends back-to-school plan

Education Minister Adriana LaGrange breaks down the provincial government’s plan to have students back in the classroom this fall.

By 660 NEWS Staff, with files from CityNews

CALGARY (660 NEWS) – As of September, students in Alberta from K-12 will be heading back to the classroom.

And while concerns linger in the minds of many teachers, students, and parents, Education Minister Adriana LaGrange says keeping students safe during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic is the priority.

READ MORE: Concerns linger as Alberta announces return to school

“I want to reassure parents that every decision that we make is (made) through the lens of what is safest for our children and for our staff.”

LaGrange assures Albertans that her government is working closely with AHS and local school divisions to execute a plan to get students safely back into the classroom.

“What I’ve heard more and more from parents, particularly, is they wanted certainty,” said LaGrange.

“They wanted to know when their students, when their children, were going back to school and so we committed to telling them by Aug. 1.

“We knew right now that–especially with numbers climbing–that we needed to get that certainty out to parents now so they could plan for the future.”

READ MORE: Students heading back to classrooms this fall

However, COVID-19 numbers continue to rise across the province, something LaGrange says they are planning around.

“Now we have a much clearer picture of what the future holds for us. Dr. Hinshaw has been extraordinary in communicating with us and working with us to develop this plan so we feel very confident that we have great health guidelines to guide our upcoming school year.”

However, despite the Alberta Teachers Association calling for class sizes to be cut in half to uphold social distancing measures, LaGrange says there will be no class caps in place.

“Certainly right now, in scenario one, we are not changing the sizes of the classes, but we are asking school divisions to look at the ability to social distance where possible, look at rearranging desks,” said LaGrange.

LaGrange says they plan to make the school year look similar to the way it was before the COVID-19 pandemic, with added health guidelines put in place to protect students.

“There will be hand sanitizing stations, they will be required to wash their hands on a more regular basis, there will be social distancing where possible.”

Masks are recommended but not mandatory in the back-to-school-outline.

READ MORE: Nenshi believes COVID-19 outbreaks will happen in schools if masks aren’t mandatory

Some parents are disappointed the province hasn’t announced any specific plans for kids who may be unable to return to school.

In such cases, the government says it won’t force anyone to go back to school and they’ll provide an online curriculum for parents to homeschool their kids, but there is no funding for teachers or support for parents who are unable to homeschool their kids.

“For those children that have perhaps a health issue, we are asking parents to have a conversation with their medical physician and then with the school as to the best way to deal with those issues within the classroom.”

However, Kelly Mandrik, a mother of two boys, says that isn’t possible for her. She says she works fulltime, is immuno-compromised, and can’t afford a tutor.

“We elected her to provide leadership, look at the science, look at the resources that the school already has and the funding models, and provide us with some clear direction and leadership. We’re not seeing that.”

As far as physically getting the kids back in class, LaGrange says there will be transportation available.

“We’ve worked out some guidelines for school divisions to follow particularly students being assigned to seats, they will also be encouraged only to sit with their siblings.”

LaGrange says she recognizes the COVID-19 pandemic as an ever-evolving beast, so the plan the government has laid out for kids isn’t necessarily what we’ll see by the time September rolls around.

“We are taking the medical advice of our medical experts. When we develop these guidelines, it was with Dr. Deena Hinshaw and the medical expertise that she and her staff have and so we are following that medical advice,” said LaGrange.

“If that changes in the future, we will absolutely change along with it. That being said, there are protocols put in place if there is a case of COVID that comes forward or even a suspected case, so we have looked forward… in terms of ensuring that we have all of those measures put in place to deal with every eventuality.”

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