Edmonton-area classes pushed online as COVID-19 staffing pressures continue
As Omicron spreads in the Edmonton area, more schools are moving classes online due to mounting staff absences.
St. Albert Public Schools confirmed to CTV News that 11 classes are online, with nearly 300 students and staff participating in remote learning.
Joseph M. Demko, Sir George Simpson, Ronald Harvey, and Muriel Martin schools all had two classes online as of Monday. Bellerose, Keenooshayo, and Lorne Akins each had one class learning remotely.
St. Albert Catholic Schools says the district has 193 reported cases of COVID-19, including 180 students and 13 teachers. The cases have prompted 15 classes to transition to online learning.
The Edmonton Public School Board says it hired an additional 29 temporary contract teachers to help ease staffing pressures earlier this month. As of Monday, all of them had been called to fill in for sick teachers.
On Monday, the district reported 581 teacher absences, 112 of them unfilled. More than 300 educational assistants were unable to work, with 185 positions unfilled.
Four classes were moved to temporary online instruction as a result of staffing pressures, including two classes at Scott Robertson.
The latest data from Edmonton Public Schools showed that almost 2.5 per cent of students enrolled were absent due to COVID-19, and nearly 3.5 per cent were absent for another illness.
As of Monday morning, Edmonton Catholic Schools said it had 633 total staff absences, including 343 teachers. Eighty-two of those teaching positions remain unfilled.
Two classes in the district were pushed to online instruction due to staffing pressures.
According to the district's COVID-19 self-reporting tracking, several schools are dealing with COVID-19 exposures.
As of publication, Archbishop MacDonald reported 23 cases, Louis St. Laurent and St. Francis Xavier had 21 infections, St. Thomas Aquinas had 19, Austin O'Brien had 16 cases, Christ the King had 16, and Archbishop O'Leary reported 15 cases.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
'Anything to win': Trudeau says as Poilievre defends meeting protesters
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is accusing Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre of welcoming 'the support of conspiracy theorists and extremists,' after the Conservative leader was photographed meeting with protesters, which his office has defended.
What is changing about Canada's capital gains tax and how does it impact me?
The federal government's proposed change to capital gains taxation is expected to increase taxes on investments and mainly affect wealthy Canadians and businesses. Here's what you need to know about the move.
'My stomach dropped': Winnipeg man speaks out after being criminally harassed following single online date
A Winnipeg man said a single date gone wrong led to years of criminal harassment, false arrests, stress and depression.
Bank of Canada officials split on when to start cutting interest rates
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
Pilot reported fire onboard plane carrying fuel, attempted to return to Fairbanks just before crash
One of the two pilots aboard an airplane carrying fuel reported there was a fire on the airplane shortly before it crashed and burned outside Fairbanks, killing both people on board, a federal aviation official said Wednesday.
'One of the single most terrifying things ever': Ontario couple among passengers on sinking tour boat in Dominican Republic
A Toronto couple are speaking out about their 'extremely dangerous' experience on board a sinking tour boat in the Dominican Republic last week.
Quebec nurse had to clean up after husband's death in Montreal hospital
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
7 surveillance videos linked to extortions of South Asian home builders in Edmonton released
The Edmonton Police Service has released a number of surveillance videos related to a series of extortion cases in the city now dubbed 'Project Gaslight.'
Ukraine uses long-range missiles secretly provided by U.S. to hit Russian-held areas, officials say
Ukraine for the first time has begun using long-range ballistic missiles provided secretly by the United States, bombing a Russian military airfield in Crimea last week and Russian forces in another occupied area overnight, American officials said Wednesday.