St. Albert and Sturgeon County students are heading back to school, to the joy of their parents and teachers.
Alberta Education Minister Adriana LaGrange confirmed May 19 that most K-to-12 students in the province would resume in-person classes as of May 25. The exceptions were students in the Wood Buffalo region, who would return to school May 31.
The province switched K-12 students to at home-learning May 7 in most of Alberta – including the St. Albert and Sturgeon County region – as part of new measures to stop the third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.
LaGrange said her department made this switch because the large number of teachers and students in isolation due to COVID-19 had made it tough to continue in-person lessons, not because the disease was spreading in schools.
“The safety protocols we have in our schools are effective,” she said, and were limiting in-school transmission.
LaGrange said she decided to resume in-person classes due to a decline in COVID-19 cases in schools. Just 2.2 per cent of staff were in isolation May 19 due to COVID-19, down from 12 per cent on May 7, with total cases among students and staff now at around 1,000 compared to 6,000. Cases in Wood Buffalo had not fallen as much, so students there would spend another week at home.
The data shows that schools were a reflection, rather than a driver, of community spread when it came to COVID-19, said Alberta Chief Medical Officer of Health Deena Hinshaw. When in-person classes resumed after a nearly month-long break Jan. 11, for example, it did not lead to an increase in COVID-19 cases in the five- to 19-year-old age group. Instead, cases decreased to 700 from 2,000 over the next six weeks, mirroring a drop in overall cases.
“The numbers in our schools continue to depend on the choices each of us make every day,” Hinshaw said, and on the public’s willingness to follow health regulations and get vaccinated.
LaGrange acknowledged that this had been a challenging two weeks for families and schools, and encouraged everyone who could to get vaccinated against COVID-19.
“I’m confident students will finish this challenging school year learning in their classrooms.”
Hooray, parents say
All COVID-free Greater St. Albert Catholic staff and students should be able to resume in-person instruction May 25, said Cathy Giesbrecht, the district’s assistant superintendent of learning services.
“We feel really confident in our (safety) measures in our schools,” Giesbrecht said, adding they had no plans to let up the slack on any of them.
Morinville Community High teacher Neil Korotash said he had changed up his lessons for his urban agriculture and biology students in the last few weeks, focusing on theory and virtual tours instead of hands-on labs. He was also happy to let students skip class in order to get COVID-19 vaccinations.
Korotash said his students would spend the rest of the year doing fun, in-person activities such as planting trees and dissecting pigs.
“I’m glad we’re going back,” he said.
“It’s more fun teaching when you’re in class than online.”
École Citadelle parent Chantal Bjarnason said at-home learning had been a challenge for parents, and that she had been lucky to get a few days off to help supervise her Grade 2 student.
“The kids really need that time with the teacher,” she said, as it was difficult to keep them engaged with lessons when they were alone.
“We’re definitely excited for them to be back in the classroom.”
