Year-round Edmonton Catholic schools are reinstating COVID-19 safety measures as students return to class
Nearly a thousand year-round Catholic school students returned to the classroom on Wednesday, as schools waited for guidance from the government on COVID-19.
Three schools in Edmonton take shorter summer breaks for more time off during the year: St. Teresa of Calcutta Elementary School, St. Catherine Catholic Elementary and Junior High and St. Alphonsus Catholic Elementary and Junior High.
These three schools say they are all keeping last year’s protocols in place while waiting for guidance from the government on COVID-19.
Krista MacGregor, principal at Alphonsus Catholic Elementary, says that includes mandatory masks, screening protocols, smaller class sizes and increased ventilation.
“We just thought it is a lot easier for our Kindergarten to Grade 9 just to follow what we were doing in June so it is not very different,” said MacGregor.
MacGregor says her staff and school community look forward to returning to in-person learning.
In fact, she says more students at St. Alphonsus are returning to in-person learning with the total number of students learning online dropping from 80 to 20.
“It is great to have them back. For teachers, they want to have those bodies back in the classroom. That is what teaching is all about – it is building those relationships in the classroom,” said MacGregor.
The provincial government plans to remove mandatory quarantine for people who test positive for the virus and stop asymptomatic testing starting Aug. 16.
Jason Schilling, president of Alberta Teachers’ Association, says without direct guidance from the government, students and teachers are feeling a sense of anxiousness.
“Once again we find ourselves sort of in a repeat of what we had last summer, with a lot of questions with a couple of weeks for school to start and nothing coming out of the government in terms of guidance or what schools can expect in the fall,” he said.
“The sooner we can get this information, the better off we would be,” he added.
Alberta Education says a document outlining safety protocols is being finalized and will be released later in August.
Schilling says schools should keep last year’s safety protocols that were in place to keep the community safe.
Other Alberta school districts, which have students returning in September, said they are still working on their return-to-school plans.
Trish Estabrooks, Edmonton Public School Board trustee, says e-mails continue to pour in advocating for a continuation of COVID-19 protocols.
“We have heard a number of concerns. Parents are worried and we are three weeks from the start of the next school year -- there is still a lot of uncertainty," said Estabrooks.
"Dozens of e-mails, dozens of phone calls that I am personally receiving and I know my collegues are receiving, are asking that we keep those same protocols in place," she added.
Estabrooks says following last year's protocols is the "move that makes sense" given the rise of the Delta variant. She promised parents' concerns were being heard.
"I would say certainly by this week, we need some clear leadership and we need some clear direction made from the government of Alberta, from our elected officials, and also from Dr. Deena Hinshaw."
Calgary's public school board similarly told The Canadian Press it is monitoring an evolving situation.
In a statement from Calgary Board of Education, spokeswoman Megan Geyer said the district is working closely with Alberta's health and education ministries “to ensure appropriate health and safety protocols are adhered to in our schools and work places.”
Geyer said the board is sharing additional information with staff and families later this month.
On Tuesday, Alberta reported an additional 279 new COVID-19 cases and two deaths.
- COVID-19 in Alberta: Hospitalizations up nearly 50 per cent since start of the month
- ‘Our kids are going to be super vulnerable in our schools’: Alta. doctors calling on feds for help
- Alberta to provide $45M for students set back by COVID-19 learning loss
With files from The Canadian Press
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
BREAKING Some BMO bank clients face outages in Canada, U.S.
Bank of Montreal clients on both sides of the border Thursday morning have reported outages with banking services. BMO said its technical team is investigating.
Drive one of these vehicles? You may pay 37 per cent more than average insurance costs due to thefts
As the number of auto theft incidents rises in Canada, so have insurance premiums for drivers, even the ones whose vehicles aren't stolen.
B.C. mortgage broker ran $270-million Ponzi scheme, then fled Canada, bankruptcy trustee says
The trustee appointed to manage the bankruptcies of a Victoria mortgage company and its owner has concluded that they committed "numerous offences" and operated as a "massive Ponzi scheme."
'I'm not wealthy': Ontario senior shocked she owes $40,000 in capital gains after gifting land
An Ontario senior who wanted to help her daughter and grandson eventually own homes one day decided to give them two lots on her property as a gift—but she didn’t know it would eventually cost her tens of thousands of dollars.
Want to turn off Meta AI? You can't - but there are some workarounds
If you use Facebook, WhatsApp or Instagram, you've probably noticed a new character pop up answering search queries or eagerly offering tidbits of information in your feeds, with varying degrees of accuracy.
opinion Trump's Republicans falling far behind in fundraising, infrastructure
In his latest column for CTVNews.ca, Washington political analyst Eric Ham explains how and why Republicans -- up and down the ballot -- are falling far behind Democrats in both fundraising and infrastructure.
Canadians are eyeing moves to these cities for more affordable housing
Faced with elevated housing prices, half of Canadians in the country's largest cities are considering moving to places with more affordable housing.
Canadians' interest in buying EVs fades as barriers, concerns remain: J.D. Power
A new study finds fewer Canadians say they're interested in buying an electric vehicle as concerns remain about limited driving ranges, high prices and a lack of charging stations.
McDonald's says US$18 Big Mac meal was an 'exception' and their prices haven't risen that much
McDonald’s is fighting back against viral tweets and media reports that it says have exaggerated its price increases.