School year over in Saskatchewan
What happens in fall will hinge on how virus unfolds in interim
With word officially coming down on Thursday that Saskatchewan schools will not reopen before the end of the current term, planning has now turned to what happens next school year.
All schools in the province closed down on March 20 and, because of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, Saskatchewan’s approximately 180,000 students will not return to the classroom before the summer holidays.
“On the advice of Saskatchewan’s Chief Medical Health Officer, the Response Planning Team (RPT) has informed Saskatchewan’s school divisions that in-class learning will not resume for the remainder of the school year,” said the Ministry of Education in an email statement.
The RPT is now turning its attention to working out what inclass learning will look like come September, although whether the school year will begin with in-person classes or with continued online learning is not yet known.
Education Minister Gord Wyant told reporters that the RPT is currently working to “analyze what different scenarios might be available” for both in-person classes and a continuation of online learning.
“We’re continuing to work on supplementary learning opportunities so that in the event that school can’t commence in September, we’ll have a robust plan for the delivery of public education,” he said.
“It’s certainly not the most ideal, but in the circumstances, we’re certainly doing our best.”
Schools will only reopen with the approval of the province’s chief medical health officer Dr. Saqib Shahab. Wyant said there is a possibility that schools in one location will be able to open in September while others remain closed, depending on Shahab’s recommendations.
Following the news that schools will remain closed, parents and students waited in a physically distanced line outside Ecole St.
Angela Merici in Regina Thursday afternoon to pick up any school supplies the students had left in the building.
Jaimie Paysen, a Grade 7/8 teacher at St. Angela, said she is thankful to have a little bit of certainty that things won’t change again in the near future, but her students are disappointed at the news.
“In some ways it’s nice to know what’s going to happen, because the unknown is difficult,” said Paysen.
Her Grade 8 students in particular though are feeling a lack of closure as they transition out of elementary school.
“They’re like, ‘We were holding out hope we might go back,’ and I think it’s just because there’s no finality for them,” she said.
What September will bring is still unknown, but for now Paysen said she will do her best to maintain the routine she has established with her students over the last seven weeks.
The Ministry of Education has also said school divisions are working with Grade 12 students and staff on what will become of graduation ceremonies, whether the celebrations move to a virtual event or is postponed.
Both Greater Saskatoon Catholic Schools (GSCS) and Saskatoon Public Schools have cancelled all in-person graduation ceremonies and banquets. Schools are now looking into alternative ways of celebrating graduates.
In a statement posted to the GSCS’S website, the division’s director of education Greg Chatlain recognized that parents and students have questions now about how the year will be completed and what next year will look like.
“At this time, we don’t have all of those answers. Staff are continuing their plans to complete this school year and will begin planning for next school year.
The status of classes in the fall will be largely determined by the province’s Chief Medical Health Officer,” Chatlain said in the statement.
Regina Public Schools said it will continue offering supplemental learning online until the end of June, and that students can expect to hear from their schools over the next few weeks about what will become of graduation ceremonies.
The Regina Catholic School Division said in an online statement that schools “are making plans to host grade 8 farewells and graduations within the COVID -19 provincial guidelines. We are looking at creative ways of allowing our staff and students (to) celebrate these milestones.”
Students will receive a final grade based on their current grade. All Grade 12 students who qualify for graduation will still graduate, and all students will move to their next grade level come the fall.