Employ a hybrid learning plan for vulnerable youth

As coronavirus cases continue to rise among school-aged children, Saturday's announcement of a significant expansion of in-school rapid testing was indeed a welcome one.

However, the fact that these tests are set to be deployed “over the coming weeks” is yet another reminder of April's challenges and the likelihood that things are going to get worse before they get better.

There is an understandable urge to keep children in school. Indeed, every school closure represents a collective failure on our part.

But it doesn't have to be a choice between the status quo and school closures. Alberta's own school re-entry plan specifically spelled out a hybrid strategy — one which, strangely, the province has been reluctant to utilize at any point this school year.

As of the weekend, 17 per cent of Alberta's schools are on alert or have outbreaks. That represents about 2,300 or so cases, which obviously doesn't include the many thousands who are forced to self-isolate. The overall number of active cases among 10 to 19-year-olds is actually higher now than it was at the peak of the winter second wave.

The province has basically conceded that the B.1.1.7 has become dominant in Alberta, but we don't seem to have really factored in the impact on schools. We know this variant is more transmissible and it appears that younger people may be more susceptible to the virus and more likely to spread it.

Again, widespread rapid testing can certainly add a layer of protection. However, there may not be much of a school year left by the time the screening is fully operational, and schools outside of Calgary, Edmonton, Lethbridge and Grande Prairie may not even get the chance to

Reducing the number of students in school ... could make a big difference.

make use of this tool.

So what to do in the meantime?

It's not clear at this point to what extent schools are driving community transmission, and it may be still the case that they are more a reflection of the amount of virus in the community. Of course, there is no shortage of community infection at the moment, and we do know that in-school transmission is occurring, in at least 87 per cent of the schools with alerts or outbreaks.

We also know that this variant is harder to contain within a household setting, which is why the province adjusted the quarantine requirements for close contacts of variant cases. All of this is to say that, unfortunately, rapid testing may not be enough to deal with the current situation.

The situation in the community of Athabasca is a good example of what we're up against. An outbreak at a junior/senior high school (grades 7-12) has now resulted in over 100 positive cases after the outbreak was first confirmed March 24 with two cases. Now, all three schools in the town are closed through until at least this Friday.

Closing all schools — or even closing junior and senior high schools, as we did in December — would certainly have an impact on current case counts. Of course, that has all sorts of other impacts on students and learning.

Ultimately, though, we want to bring cases down as much as we can in order to really clear the runway for the vaccines to do their work.

The hybrid option gives us a compromise. Alternating groups of students between in-school and online learning would at least reduce the current risk while not entirely depriving students of the value of being in school. Significantly reducing the number of students in school on any given day could make a big difference.

As was the case in the second wave, we could leave things as they are for younger students. Given where things are at in the current school year, perhaps allowances could even be made to keep Grade 12 students in class full-time while alternating students in lower grades.

The province specifically listed this as an option. Why not make use of it?