Back-to-school choices have parents scrambling

Three weeks before schools are slated to open in Alberta, some parents are still scrambling for more information to decide whether they will send their kids back to the classroom.

For many parents, the choice will be made at a deadline yet-to-be-announced later this week by Edmonton Public Schools, or on Friday for Edmonton Catholic Schools.

David Gray, spokesman for grassroots advocacy group Wall of Alberta Moms and Dads, said “everybody’s having to make up plans at the last minute because everything ’s been left to the last minute.”

The group has been pushing

for a cut to class sizes, and shared an informal poll on social media Wednesday showing its followers, made up mostly of concerned parents, were split on having made a decision at all. An overwhelming majority said Alberta should delay school reopening, as B.C. announced it would do Tuesday.

For some parents, like Linda Moon, that uncertainty and climbing COVID -19 case numbers in Edmonton made it easy for her and her husband to decide they would not send their six-year-old son back to the classroom.

“We don’t know how on earth they’re going to keep the schools clean with the current staffing and funds they have,” Moon said.

If funding was increased and classes capped, they might have decided to send their son into the classroom, but the prospect of transmitting the virus to Moon’s elderly parents and grandmother was another deal-breaker, she said.

“We’d have to stop seeing them,” she said.

Moon said they’re lucky she’s in a position to guide her son through online learning from home, but some don’t have that privilege.

Many families of students with disabilities face a troubling catch-22: their kids often rely on the educational system and professional teachers for their development, but some have health concerns that make them more vulnerable to COVID-19 in the classroom.

Wendy Mcdonald at Inclusion Alberta said in an interview Friday the worry is that students with disabilities are going to be left behind or they’re going to be pushed into segregated education, Mcdonald said.

“The biggest fear is the unknown. What is going to be in place?” she said.

Tina Trigg has a child in junior high with a disability, and said her family doesn’t have the details they need to make a decision yet — including specifics about what their child’s classroom and cohort might look like. Classroom space is a factor for Trigg, but inclusive education — and the social connection that comes from an integrated classroom of peers — is extremely important.

Online or in-person learning both carry risks, but she said she hopes stakeholders can come together to address the needs of at-risk and vulnerable children, especially those for whom school is the safest space.

“At what point are we collectively coming to the table to talk through these issues, and brainstorm about how we can make success possible for all children?” she said.

Edmonton Public is planning to share more re-entry information with families later this week.

As parents try to balance the risks of COVID-19 transmission, the need to return to work and the value of classrooms and teachers, some unconventional alternatives are attracting attention.

Tim Gourlay at Fitset Ninja said the 20,000-square-foot Edmonton obstacle course facility has already heard interest from at least 140 parents, some of whom aren’t comfortable sending their kids back to class or who can’t stay home from work. Eight kids have been registered out of 30 spots in what Gourlay calls a “modified school experience,” including school-directed online courses supervised by three tutors — one an educational assistant laid off in April — and fitness activities led by two coaches, he said.

With Edmonton Public and Edmonton Catholic forced to cancel field trips, normally the gym’s bread and butter, Gourlay said the gym needed to adapt.

NDP infrastructure critic Thomas Dang said, “We’re not trying to replace schools or replace teachers. We’re more so trying to help parents who can’t send their kids back to school,” he said. A 10-week term running five days a week is priced at $2,150.

“The UCP has had months to secure enough room to keep students safe and have not, which has left parents desperately looking for other options and to start to take matters into their own hands.”

Colin Aitchison, press secretary for Education Minister Adriana Lagrange, said in a statement that businesses offering locations for students to learn from are not endorsed by Alberta Education.

Meanwhile, Judy Arnall, president of Alberta Homeschooling Association, said interest in home education, which is more parent-directed than distance learning or online education, has increased tenfold this year over previous years.

“We’re getting more converts, I think,” said Arnall.

We don’t know how on earth they’re going to keep the schools clean with the current staffing ...