Canadian Press file photo

By Shaun Penner

back to School

Grade K-12 students to return to in-person classes on Tuesday

May 19, 2021 | 2:33 PM

Students in Grades Kindergarten through 12 across most of Alberta, including the Grande Prairie area, will be returning to the classroom as planned on Tuesday, May 25 to finish out the school year.

Education Minister Adriana LaGrange and Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Deena Hinshaw made the announcement Wednesday afternoon, after students were initially sent home two weeks ago as new public health restrictions were brought in to stem the sharp rise of new COVID-19 cases in Alberta.

All schools will be returning to in-person classes except for the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo, as daily new COVID-19 cases continue to remain high in that area.

LaGrange stressed that the decision to move to at-home learning for two weeks on May 4 was an operational decision made by Alberta Education, not Alberta health of Dr. Hinshaw, which was based on a lack of available teachers within many school divisions due to self isolation requirements.

“At that time we were seeing large numbers of school staff and students in isolation, which made continuing in-person learning very difficult,” said LaGrange, adding it was a necessary decision to preserve the rest of the school year.

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Both LaGrange and Hinshaw continued to state they feel protocols put in place to minimize spread of COVID-19 within schools has worked, and that a return to school is safe.

“The robust health protocols that have been in place in schools to keep our students and staff safe will continue, including mask requirements, cohorts, screening for symptoms and seating arrangements.”

Hinshaw added that the two week shift to at-home learning has led to a sharp drop in average daily new cases among school-aged children. She said in early May that average was around 60 new cases per 100,000 people per day, which has since dropped to 31 per 100,000.

Hinshaw said she “is confident that we can all work together to keep cases falling in young Albertans.”

“I know that in-person learning is critically important for many kids’ educational and social development and can provide a sense of normalcy in these uncertain times.”

Hinshaw added that extracurricular sports, recreational and performance activities for children and youth will remain closed in high-transmission areas of the province for the next several weeks.