By Liam Verster

Back to School

GPCSD preparing to open doors to schools in fall

Jun 15, 2020 | 10:36 AM

Following last week’s announcement on plans to reopen schools in Alberta, Grande Prairie and District Catholic Schools are preparing to open the doors to students in the fall.

The Province is preparing for the 2020-21 school year with three proposed scenarios. The first involves a near-normal resumption of in-class learning, with additional health and hygiene measures in place. The second would see class sizes limited to 15 people per class, with the same health and hygiene measures as scenario one included, and the third would be a continuation of online learning from home. The first two scenarios would also involve more rigorous cleaning of high-touched surfaces, equipment, and schools in general.

School boards are being asked to be prepared to operate under any of these scenarios, as the Province may change from one scenario to another if there is a local COVID-19 outbreak.

Superintendent Karl Germann says they are now in the process of preparing for the first two scenarios by cleaning and sanitizing the schools.

“We’ve been acquiring quite a bit of equipment and supplies to make sure that we can do additional cleaning that both the Province is suggesting through Alberta Health Services and Alberta Education. We’ve also ordered a number of commercial disinfectant units that you can actually spray all of your equipment and your floors and your rugs, and the disinfectant will last for a period of five to seven days. So we’re keenly interested in doing something like that alongside of our regular cleaning and high intensity cleaning that will occur throughout the day.”

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Germann adds that they will do a thorough, deep clean of the school over the summer, and when class resumes in the fall, they will be using the proper chemicals while cleaning that will kill the germs and bacteria, but won’t be harmful to the kids or staff. The schools are also in the process of removing their carpets and hard-to-clean materials, creating a more minimalist environment that’s easier to clean.

“We’re even looking at taking the libraries, and moving the libraries maybe to the classrooms for a period of time, and [having] kids sign stuff out with the teacher, as opposed to having a common place where kids gather.”

Germann says while keeping things clean will be a key focus, the Province is also asking schools to make sure physical distancing is maintained. He admits that may be a bit of a struggle with children, but there are plans in place to follow those guidelines, mainly by limiting kids to smaller cohorts.

“So for example, kids wouldn’t cross to different parts of the school or go to different parts, they might stay more in one particular area. And if that means that kids are able to stay in school for a period of time, then we are going to see what we can do to try to accomplish that.”

He says while most staff and families want schools to reopen, there is still some anxiety out there over the risk of a COVID-19 outbreak in schools.

“There’s a few staff and there’s a few parents who’s kids might have more immune challenges, and we might have to see what we can do for families like that, because we don’t want to put kids at risk. But for your average kid, the information that’s out there says the children will not be significantly impacted on a regular basis by COVID, and so they would be okay to come back so long as people institute cleaning and social distancing.”

Grande Prairie and District Catholic Schools are also preparing for the opportunity to have sports in the upcoming school year. Germann says student athletes will be able to practice, and there may be opportunities for games between other local schools.

“So that’s kind of what we’re hoping for, that kids can get involved in some of those activities, because sometimes kids go to school not always because they want to learn the core subjects, but they want to participate in other extra curricular activities. Or the athletics give the kids a focus, and that helps them in school quite a bit.”

Germann says there are a couple other ideas on how to maintain a sanitary school environment and minimize the risk of a COVID-19 outbreak. The school board will be meeting with principals in the coming weeks to figure out each school’s specific needs, and the best ways to address the issues.

The Province has said final details on the re-opening plans for Alberta’s schools will be announced by August 1, 2020.