Edmonton school divisions still waiting on provincial guidelines as some schools resume

About 1,000 Catholic students returned to classes Wednesday even as Edmonton Catholic and public divisions wait for updated COVID-19 safety guidelines from the province.

St. Teresa of Calcutta Catholic Elementary, St. Catherine Catholic Elementary and Junior High, and St. Alphonsus Catholic Elementary and Junior High schools have all returned to in-person and year-round schooling with some online learning.

Edmonton Catholic Schools have decided to adhere to the the most recent Alberta Health guidelines from July, which include mask requirements for all students and staff, enhanced cleaning and self-screening for symptoms. 

Tim Cusack, deputy superintendent for Edmonton Catholic Schools, said Wednesday that the division will keep parents and staff updated on protocols as it waits for word from the government. 

"We're always wanting to be prudent and be on the side of safety and well-being of our students and staff. And those measures served us well during the summer period," he said. 

With those safety measures in place, Cusack said he is excited for students to come back. There are around 1,200 students in online learning this year, as opposed to the 10,500 last year. 

"It's important for parents to understand that we're working very closely with all of our provincial stakeholders, talking with the other school jurisdictions — [we] really want to put the best safety and well-being plans in place," he said. 

'We did well last year'

Krista MacGregor, principal at St. Alphonsus School, said she is also excited about having a more full school, and that parents seem fine with sending their kids for in-person classes. 

"We did well last year," she said. "So I think they're confident in our ability to take the measures that we need to to keep their children safe here at school."

Danny Fournier, who has two kids at St. Alphonsus in Grade 1 and Grade 5, said he is a bit uncertain about them going back but is glad schools are taking precautions. 

"I'm excited because I get a little bit of freedom. But at the same time, it's so many questions in the air," he said. "We're just going to do it day by day and see how everything goes."

Parents must decide by Monday whether to send their children to school for in-person classes or opt for online learning. 

A spokesperson for the education minister said a guidance document is being finalized and will be released mid-August.

Edmonton public also waiting

Trisha Estabrooks, chair of the Edmonton Public School Board, said she wants to keep the same protocols in place while the division waits for direction from the government.

"That is the move that makes sense given the numerous factors but the big one for me is that kids under the age of 12 cannot be vaccinated," she said, adding that Alberta is also seeing more delta variant cases.

"And so, in our mind, given the large volume of concerns that we've heard from parents and given that we know what we did last year worked, it just seems to be the right direction."

She said that many parents have sent emails wanting to keep the COVID-19 protocols. 

"They are asking us to keep those good safety measures that were in place last year, to keep them in place again this year. And so that is our hope."

EPSB is sending a letter to the Minister of Education on Thursday to ask for current protocols to continue and  for schools to have autonomy over safety decisions.

Both school divisions will finalize their back-to-school plans for September once the guidelines have been updated.