N.L. return-to-school plan aims for normal classroom experience

Students in Newfoundland and Labrador will return to the classroom on Sept. 8 with a plan that aims to make the school experience as close to the old normal as possible, officials said Thursday. 

However, an array of critics said the goverment's move — which will see largely maskless students move freely around schools — is too much, too soon. 

The back-to-school plan includes a multi-tier approach, according to Education Minister Tom Osborne, who said the plan comes with different options based on the risk of community transmission across the province.

Osborne and others revealed the plan — which can stay in place so long as current COVID-19 epidemiology stays in the place — during a news conference at a school in King's Point. 

If caseloads soar — and schools have to move into what's called a high-risk learning situation that could involve blended learning — education officials say they are confident it can be done quickly.

"From a proactive piece, we're ready to go," said Tony Stack, the Newfoundland and Labrador English School District's director of education.

"We've experienced this before. Our teachers, our administrators stepped up and were able to pivot last time, and we know they can do it again."

WATCH | Watch the full back-to-school plan announcement:

A low-risk approach scales back public health measures that were in place last year, while the high-risk approach would keep many public health measures in place.

Under the low-risk system, students will return to the classroom full time, rather than under the blended learning approach used last year.

Class cohorts and physical distancing are not required, but schools will continue to try to prevent crowding in public areas like hallways.

Following the advice of Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Janice Fitzgerald, masks will be encouraged in the classroom but not mandatory. 

Masks will also not be mandatory on buses, which will return to full capacity in the fall, along with other changes:

• Extracurricular activities like sports and field trips can resume in a low-risk situation.
• The use of schools by community groups will be permitted again.
• School lunch programs can return to normal.
• Parents of kindergarten students will again be able to visit schools on their child's first day.

If a school were to move into a high-risk situation, cohorting, physical distancing and mask-wearing would likely resume, according to a news release issued by the Department of Education.

Other facets of the system would also revert to scenarios seen last year, like limited occupancy on buses, extracurriculars being cancelled, and a priority being put on virtual gatherings.

Osborne said what constitutes a high-risk situation will be up to public health officials. Every high-risk situation could look different, he said but the plan is fluid enough to adapt.

"There's a number of things that we've learned throughout the year. We can very quickly pivot to online learning if we need to, but I believe the risk right now in the province is very low," Osborne said.

The 2020-21 school year saw multiple instances where a school was moved into a high-risk situation, highlighted by an outbreak that also shut down in-person voting in the provincial election in February. The outbreak resulted in 185 cases of COVID-19 involving 22 different schools.

High school students finished the year in a controversial hybrid that saw students rotate between classroom settings and online learning.

Air quality shouldn't be an afterthought: critics

Following the announcement, education critics in the province say they still have concerns.

Trent Langdon, president of the Newfoundland and Labrador Teachers' Association, said the delta variant of the virus that causes COVID-19 presents new challenges to air quality, ventilation and physical distancing that need to be addressed.

"We'd love to see some tangible movement on that, he said. "To say 'Let's identify some of the key schools in this province that air quality is a major issue...or some very clear guidelines that we can implement across the board."

Osborne, along with Premier Andrew Furey, said a plan to address air quality concerns is being worked on.

However, their critics in the House of Assembly say the Liberals have sat on the issue for too long. According to PC education critic Barry Petten, the need for better ventilation pre-dates the pandemic.

"Now we're finally talking about that they're going to do the ventilation now? What about all summer?" Petten told reporters. "We're going to wait until September, the bell rings, and then we're going to tear up the schools to put a ventilation plan in."

NDP education critic Jim Dinn was blunt when asked to react to the plan. "What plan?" he said. 

"I think it comes down to throwing the baby out with the bath water. It almost sounds as if the premier and the minister have announced an end to the pandemic."

Vaccinations not mandatory but still the best defence: premier

Furey said the back-to-school plan was made possible by the province's high COVID-19 vaccination rates. As of Monday, nearly 63 per cent of the eligible population had received two doses, while more than 84 per cent had received at least one.

Osborne said vaccinations will not be mandatory for teachers re-entering the classroom but he noted that many of the province's teachers have already been vaccinated.

While primary and elementary school-age students are still unable to be vaccinated, Furey said, getting vaccinated is the best choice a person can make to keep schools safe.

"Even if there are one or two who don't get vaccinated, the 100 people who are kind of protect them," Furey said. "The best thing that everybody in the community can do to protect schools or people who can't get vaccines … is get vaccinated." 

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