The face of learning for primary and secondary students will likely never be the same again, said education director Gwen Keith at the Holy Family Roman Catholic Separate School Division鈥檚 board meeting on Wednesday.
The board met in person for the first time since the lockdowns for COVID-19 began in mid-March, with physical distancing observed and a limit to the number of people in the building for the meeting.
The first basic fact remains, said Keith. 鈥淲e remain in a civil emergency in the province, that is where we are.鈥�
She noted that the guidebook for how the school division is proceeding is the Re-Open Saskatchewan plan as set out by the province and the Chief Medical Health Officer, 鈥渁nd these are the rules we are required to follow. 鈥� We take direction from the medical officer and the premier in terms of education.鈥�
All schools were shut down on March 20, and students have been voluntarily accessing supplemental learning since then, with the school division providing technology for those families who鈥檝e needed it.
鈥淚鈥檓 very proud of the efforts of the staff for those parents who wanted supplemental learning,鈥� said Keith, noting they have now been told that learning could be ended as of June 19, while the staff last day is June 25.
With the return to class now mandated to be on Sept. 1 or as soon after that according to the school division鈥檚 calendar, Keith said the school division needs the details on how they鈥檙e supposed to operate the schools when they reopen.
As of the meeting date, no details had been provided, but the province has since posted the guidelines for the return to class.
鈥淜nowing the pandemic still exists, we have to address the safety of our people and the students,鈥� said Keith. 鈥淲e鈥檙e having fun doing this, by the way.鈥�
Holy Family has done a couple of surveys of parents about how they鈥檝e been handling the supplemental learning, and Keith said, 鈥淭hey鈥檝e had it with remote learning.鈥�
Noting that the guidelines say physical distancing should be maintained where possible, Keith asked, 鈥淗ow do you manage that with kindergarteners? People must stay home when you鈥檙e sick, so what are the rules for that? There鈥檚 lots of HR complications here.鈥�
She said the top two priorities for the school division is to keep people as safe as possible, and provide education as efficiently as they can.
Board chair Bruno Tuchscherer pointed out that there are bound to be parents who won鈥檛 want to send their children to school because of concerns around COVID-19.
鈥淲ith education being mandatory, we have to figure out how we鈥檙e going to do deal with that,鈥� he said, pointing out there are three levels of decision-makers they have to listen to, including the government (including the Chief Medical Health Officer), the response planning team (RPT) and the Saskatchewan School Boards Association (SSBA).
鈥淲e want as many kids as we can safely put in the building in school,鈥� said Keith. 鈥淲e may have some parents say, 鈥業 don鈥檛 want my kids back in school until it鈥檚 all figured out.鈥�
Trustee Rocky Sidloski pointed out that the basic restriction of two-metre distancing would cause a problem, as with some classrooms, they can鈥檛 physically put 30 students into one class based on that restriction.
鈥淭he reality is, there are no answers. At the end of the day, if a kid falls down and is hurt, a teacher is going to care for that child. We have this serious obligation to educate 鈥� but how do we support a family who has a vulnerable child, or a family with three children and just one computer?鈥� said Keith, adding of the pandemic, 鈥淭his is going to be around for a while, so we need to do this right.鈥�
In a normal school year, the June meeting is the last board meeting until the fall when the new school year gets underway. Keith noted that the hope is no board meeting will be needed, but as things unfold in the coming weeks, she said a meeting may have to be called if there are decisions needing to be made by the board before school starts in September.
鈥淲e鈥檝e been working with the principals and they鈥檙e up to the challenge, and we just want to make it happen,鈥� she added.
There will be a virtual opening mass for the new school held online on Aug. 25, and the details and the links to access it will be sent out later this summer.
