Teachers and staff return to work Monday, either on-site or from home

Teachers and staff in Saskatchewan’s schools system will return to work — whether at home or in classrooms — a week after schools closed due to the COVID -19 (novel coronavirus) pandemic.

Students will continue to stay at home indefinitely.

Clint Repski, Saskatchewan’s assistant deputy minister of education, said in a media teleconference Friday that it will be up to the school divisions to determine what this looks like.

Schools have been closed since March 20, when the Ministry of Education directed them to stop operations until March 27.

Students remain off school for an indefinite period, which is not expected to change until Saskatchewan’s chief medical officer determines otherwise.

During the pause of operations, essential services such as maintenance continued.

While students are away from class, distance-learning programs, developed or adopted locally, will be offered to them.

Repski said the programs will look different across the province and may not match the current curriculum. He said schools and their staff will be in the best position to determine which mode of learning would work best, whether it be online, via telephone or on paper.

“I think the school divisions will be reaching out to the families and their students and they’re going to be having those conversations about how to best meet the learning needs of students,” Repski said.

Saskatoon’s two school divisions are busy working on what comes next.

Greater Saskatoon Catholic Schools will implement supplemental learning plans developed by staff, with the guidance of the education sector response planning team, spokesman Derrick Kunz said in an email on Friday.

“Almost all staff will continue to work from home next week, and we must adhere to provincial restrictions about physical distancing and size of gatherings/meetings,” he wrote.

Saskatoon Public Schools staff have been busy working on plans this week while school staff have been on the ministry-ordered pause, spokeswoman Veronica Baker wrote in an email on Friday.

She said information would be provided to staff on Friday, and to families on Monday.