Are the latest school closures for Calgary the right move?

CALGARY (660 NEWS) – Thousands of students in Calgary’s public and Catholic school divisions are going back to online learning for two weeks, but is it the right move?

On Wednesday, the Calgary Board of Education (CBE) and the Calgary Catholic School Division (CCSD) announced all grade 7-12 students will move to online classes starting Apr. 19. The move is expected to last two weeks but could be extended.

RELATED: CBE, CCSD students in Grades 7 to 12 shift to at-home learning April 19 for two weeks

As cases continue to rise in Alberta and in several schools, many believe this is a necessary move to make.

“I have more than one-third of my schools impacted right now,” said Superintendent of the CCSD, Bryan Szumlas. “I have many schools that are on outbreak status which means they have five or more cases. In fact, I have more than half of my high schools that are in outbreak status.”

Szumlas added he doesn’t like going back and forth with these closures but admitted his top priority is keeping students and staff safe.

The Alberta Teacher’s Association (ATA) said the decision had to be made because there are too many cases in schools right now, and this’ll help drive them down.

ATA president, Jason Schilling said it’s been hard to get substitute teachers during outbreaks when many are self-isolating.

“Our schools are as safe as our communities and seeing a rise of cases in the province and especially with the variants of concern have been a major concern and source of anxiety for teachers as they are working through this pandemic.”

This afternoon, the government announced regional measures to help limit the spread of COVID-19. CCSD will follow government direction in regard to grade 7-12 students moving to online learning for 2 weeks. We'll share more detailed information with parents & guardians shortly.

— CCSD (@CCSD_edu) April 14, 2021

While the opposition NDP approves of the move, they are very critical of how the UCP has handled the situation of COVID-19 in the schools from the beginning.

In a release, shadow minister for education, Sarah Hoffman said the government doesn’t know what’s happening in schools.

“The reasons the UCP gave for moving these students are exactly the factors we warned them about. Staff shortages, school closures, too many students in isolation, and community spread. All of these problems were foreseeable months ago, and Jason Kenney did nothing.”

Education Minister Adriana LaGrange said while there are a number of students who have tested positive it’s still a low percentage.

“Less than one per cent province-wide. We know that the measures we put in place with our reentry plans have worked and in fact, is continuing to work.”

LaGrange said they approved the move in response to some school boards dealing with operational pressure due to the pandemic.

Currently, there are 49 schools in Calgary dealing with outbreaks of five to nine cases and 28 schools with more than 10 cases.