CBE schools on modified calendar will resume with mandatory masking

Calgary Board of Education schools starting classes next week will do so with mandatory masking and various other health measures in place — but there's no indication as yet whether those same measures will remain this fall.

Christopher Usih, chief superintendent of the CBE, said the board is awaiting updated guidelines from the province — but in the meantime, he said it was important to provide clarity to families and staff.

"It was important that students who are returning … [know] that students are expected to wear masks, as well as staff, [and it] would be the prudent approach at this time while we await further direction," he told The Homestretch. 

"We will make adjustments as necessary when those guidelines arrive."

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Under the plan as released, students returning starting Aug. 17 will need to wear masks in schools and on buses.

Other health measures in place will include:

• Frequent hand washing.
• Enhanced cleaning of high touch areas.
• Enhanced ventilation in schools.
• Classroom cohorts.

Students and staff with COVID-19 symptoms will be encouraged to stay home.

Both students and staff will also still be expected to use the school board's daily checklist to identify if they should stay home.

It's still unclear what the plan will be when CBE schools resume this fall.

"We're dealing with the delta variant, and we don't know what the situation is going to be in the fall," Usih said. "There's certainly lots of moving parts.

"But it's important for us to continue to exercise caution, and to ensure that safety measures continue to be placed in our schools to ensure the safety of everyone."