Alberta's older students `victims of bad planning' as schools close again
As students in grades 7 to 12 prepare for in-class learning to shut down until mid-january, questions are being raised around the quality of education they'll get as victims of a provincial order resulting from limited data and too few supports in schools.
Premier Jason Kenney issued a state of emergency Tuesday amid record-high COVID-19 cases in Alberta over the past few weeks, and ordered all students in junior high and high school to go back to online learning starting Monday.
Even as provincial data show about 80 per cent of COVID-19 cases are from unknown sources, Kenney blamed “private social gatherings” for high case counts, which are now putting too much pressure on schools, resulting in safety risks and staff shortages.
But families say the classroom closures are merely the result of a lack of supports in schools to begin with — such as large class sizes and staff shortages — and older students will now lose social connections and personal instruction from teachers.
“This is really going to impact older students. This is an age group who has already lost their extracurriculars, their sports, and now they won't even be able to go to school,” said Medeana Moussa, spokeswoman for Support Our Students.
“And we know these kids are just victims of bad planning, of failed leadership and no data,” she said, adding that contact tracing has become fragmented in schools and in the community.
“Yet here we are. Casinos continue to remain open, but kids in grades 7 through 12 can't go to school.”
Provincial government restrictions announced this week are putting a stop to in-home social gatherings but still allowing restaurants, bars and casinos to remain open with reduced capacity.
Weddings, funerals and worship services are also still allowed, but with reduced capacity, physical distancing and masks.
Grade 7 to 12 students will move to online learning starting Monday, while K-6 students stay in class.
All students will then have winter break from Dec. 19 to Jan. 3.
After that, all students will do one week of online learning between Jan. 4 to Jan. 8., and in-person classes will resume for all grades Jan. 11.
Grade 12 diploma exams are now optional.
But parents of high school-aged students are worried they won't get the same quality of education once they move to online.
“Older students are having to make really important decisions about their future, but then they are getting these constant disruptions to their learning,” Moussa added.
“And this is where equality becomes a real issue. We know some students will get supports in the home but many will not, depending on how financially secure their families are.”
Bryan Szumlas, superintendent for the Calgary Catholic School District, vowed that teachers transitioning students to online learning next week will be providing live instruction in keeping with the same schedule they had in-person.
“This is a lot different from what we did from March to the end of June, and all staff will be expected to be available to their students, and they will be supervised by their administrators to ensure that happens,” he said.
“We will stay true to schedules, with students all logging in together, and instruction will happen in a variety of ways, with whatever a teacher is most comfortable.
“It could be direct instruction, it could be interactive, but they will be there.”
Szumlas added that the CCSD is also looking to keep vulnerable students with special needs in classrooms, working to find alternatives to keep some of those classes running in person.
“It's something we're still working on, but some of these classes only have five or six students in them, so we can keep them running safely.”
Chris Usih, CBE superintendent, added CBE teachers will also be expected to maintain an online presence, ensuring students continue learning.
“During this period of online learning, students in grades 7 to 12 will receive direct online instruction from their teachers, as well as accessing learning and course materials through Google classroom or D2L,” he said.
“Several schools have already experienced pivoting entire grades to online learning, and many classes have moved learning online in the past three months to support students and teachers identified as close contacts of a positive case in their class.”
Over the past several weeks, schools with both CCSD and CBE have seen rising cases of COVID-19, forcing thousands of students and staff into quarantine.
The CBE is now reporting 156 cases at 57 schools, and more than 4,000 students and 300 teachers in self-isolation, while the CCSD is reporting 140 positive cases connected to 52 schools, with 3,657 students and 331 staff in isolation.
Both jurisdictions have had serious challenges trying to replace staff that have been sent into self-isolation, with limited rosters of substitute teachers and some high schools having to send full grades of students home.
With limited staffing, union leaders say teachers have been left exhausted doing their own jobs, covering for isolating staff and then virtually supporting students in quarantine.
Jason Schilling, president of the Alberta Teachers' Association, worries that if no additional supports come to schools once students return to in-class learning in January, classes could be shuttered again just as quickly.
“We want to see schools stay open,” he said. “But I really worry about the sustainability of the rest of the school year and all the pressures we continue to be under.”
“We know that many of our classrooms have well over 30 students and that physical distancing is not possible.
“We continue to see teachers cleaning their own classrooms, just to try to meet health protocols.”
We know that many of our classrooms have well over 30 students and that physical distancing is not possible.