Edmonton Public Schools reintroduces masks this fall

EDMONTON -

Students attending Edmonton Public Schools will have to wear a mask until a COVID-19 vaccine is available for all kids.

Edmonton Public made the decision after a meeting with its trustees on Friday as vaccines are unavailable for those attending kindergarten to Grade 6 and vaccination rates are not high enough for older students eligible for vaccination.

Superintendent Darrel Robertson said that a re-entry plan for in-person learning will be released on Monday and that parents will have until Thursday to choose whether their children will participate in online or in-person learning.

“Masking is a really great enabler to allow us to reintroduce some things like the semestered system to our division but it also helps us to reintroduce some of the other things like sporting events, considering the use of lockers,how kids are moving in the school, (and) clubs,” Roberston said.

Last year, around 28 to 33 per cent of students learned online – depending on the quarter of learning. Robertson said of the families who have registered for next year, fewer families have registered for online learning as compared to last year so far.

“I think the reintroduction of masking in our division will also help to keep that number low,” he said.

The district decided to switch back to regular semesters for Grades 7 to 12 for 2021-22. Last school year students were placed on a quarterly system because of the pandemic.

According to Robertson, many kids struggled to keep up with the revised academic semester structure.

During the meeting, trustee Michael Janz asked if the school district has the legal authority to implement measures beyond provincial health orders.

Robertson explained that instruction from the minister of education said the district has the authority but constituents should be consulted and informed of why measures are being implemented.

Edmonton Catholic will also release its plan for in-person learning on Monday. Year-round learning students already returned to class this week following the same precautions against COVID-19 transmission as last year.