Classes Closed!

The Canadian Education Minister has canceled in-person classes for the remainder of the school year. School officials have been trying to figure out a way to safely open, in-person classes during the COVID-19 pandemic. Alberta school leaders have started to envision how classes might look when students are permitted to return.
 
Education Minister, Adriana LaGrange sent a letter to the school boards to confirm that in-person classes will be canceled for the 2019-20 school year. They are making a plan to help get students back to school. Teachers have a lot of questions about this, as they would like to prepare for what will ultimately be a new way of teaching. They want to know exactly when students will be allowed to return to their school buildings and what type of public health measures will be initiated.
 
Things will look very different than what the students have been used to before they classes in Mark. Premier Jason Kenney said that there is the possibility of bringing classes back as early as the first week in September. There is no indication as to whether or not the government will attempt to have the students make up for a lost time.
 
It is assumed that when the classes do resume that the students will still need to be separated. Grades K-12 is planned for Stage 2 reopening based on the provincial government's COVID-19 plan. The date that classes may resume will be based on the rate of new infections, intensive care unit cases of COVID-19, and hospitalizations.
 
Restaurants, businesses, and campgrounds are all expected to reopen with restrictions. It is reasonable that schools would be required to also adhere to certain restrictions no matter when they are allowed to resume classes.
 
A group of Red Deer Public School principals and vice-principals have come together to determine how students can safely resume classes when Alberta’s chief medical officer of health has said that it is ok to resume in-person classes again.
 
Superintendent Stu Henry admits that if social distancing is still in place when classes resume, it will have serious implications for the schools. It may change the way classrooms are arranged, staffing, student transport, and the way that classes will be taught. Classes being taught in the morning and the afternoon seem to be an option under consideration.
 
Red Deer might follow the lead of Quebec by keeping juniors and seniors at home, where they are doing distance learning. This would allow them to spread elementary students out across several school buildings throughout the city.
 
This would likely result in the need for more buses to transport the students. However, no one knows for sure what recess would be like if they were not allowed to open up playgrounds or gyms.
 
The following school year is sure to be impacted if staff members become ill. All are hoping for a miracle but in the meantime, no in-person classes will resume for the current school year.