REACHING FOR THE SKY
Aleda Patterson School principal Theresa Purificati hits a slam dunk Monday in the school's gym during a tour of the new K-3 facility in the Westlawn area. Both the public and Catholic boards are now mandating the wearing of masks inside schools.
All Edmonton Catholic students and staff will now be required to wear masks inside schools, the board announced Monday.
The mandatory measure marks a shift for the district, which released a back-to-school plan two weeks ago that said masks were “strongly recommended” but not required during class time. Under that plan, students in Grades 4 to 12 were required to wear face coverings in common areas and on buses, with the same rules applied to staff.
At a virtual news conference Monday, board chairwoman Sandra Palazzo said the change in policy was prompted by recent COVID -19 data showing a significant upward trend of cases among school-aged children.
“We feel now is the time to increase our masking requirements. Until we see a significant change in the trends we will proceed with a higher caution and of course, we will continue to review and adapt our safety measures, with the goal of eventually removing all extraordinary protocols when it is reasonable and safe for everyone,” said Palazzo.
Palazzo said the division has heard a wide range of opinions from parents who support a masking requirement and those who are concerned about it.
Spokeswoman for the division Christine Meadows said the move is temporary and any changes will also be tied to vaccination rates and any new guidance from Alberta's government.
Earlier this month, Education Minister Adriana Lagrange said the government wouldn't be requiring masks or other COVID -19 restrictions in schools, instead leaving local measures up to school authorities.
Edmonton Catholic's new masking rule puts it in line with Edmonton Public Schools, which is requiring all students and staff to don face coverings whenever they are inside.
COVID -19 cases in the province have risen sharply over the past two weeks.
The province recorded 407 cases of the virus on Aug. 16, the day the Edmonton boards released their back-to-school plans.
As of the latest update Monday, the province reported new COVID-19 cases above 1,000 four days in a row including Friday, when there were 1,231.
Alberta also had 960 new cases on Saturday and 865 on Sunday, bringing the number of active cases up to 11,426.
Theresa Purificati, principal of Aleda Patterson School, Edmonton's first K-3 school opening its doors to students this fall, told reporters Monday she's excited and hopeful for the school year, despite the fact that this year, Alberta Health Services won't be notifying schools of positive cases.
“I feel like we are a little bit more in the dark than we were last year,” said Purificati, who added she's confident in the division's COVID-19 protocols, which include mandatory masking, classroom cohorting, and extra hygiene and sanitization.
On Monday, Edmonton Public School Board chairwoman Trisha Estabrooks said the overwhelming majority of parents are pleased with the division's COVID -19 protocols.
“I don't understand, quite frankly, what is so controversial about masks. We know that masks help mitigate the spread of COVID, we know that they work,” she said, acknowledging it is a divisive issue.
Meanwhile, NDP finance critic Shannon Phillips criticized the government at an unrelated news conference Monday for offering no co-ordinated COVID-19 back-toschool plan.
“We need to be doing everything we can to keep life normal for kids,” said Phillips.