SASKATOON -- Two parents protested in front of Education Minister Gordon Wyant’s office in Saskatoon on Wednesday, calling for safer schools during the COVID-19 pandemic as schools are set to reopen on Sept. 8.
Lindsay Sanderson’s five-year-old son William will be going to Erenest Lindner Schools in Saskatoon’s Hampton Village.
She says school staff have told her they don’t have enough time to be ready for students.
“William is supposed to start kindergarten in the fall this year but the way the current plan is laid out, it doesn’t keep him safe. I had a chance to read the reopen plans and the principal admitted they haven’t figured things out yet because they haven’t had time,” said Sanderson.
Elya Lam is a mother of four children with one going into Grade 2 and another in Kindergarten. She worries about their safety.
“I have absolute faith in our school staff to keep our kids safe but without government regulations that cover the entire province, we’re going to see groups of kids who are better protected or less protected than others. Some schools are operating at a Level 3 and other are at Level 1,” said Lam who is also a team member of Keep Saskatchewan Kids Safe, a grassroots organization committed to advocating for safer school reopening plans.
Both parents are calling for smaller classroom sizes, more funding for janitorial staff and specific classrooms for students with compromised immune systems.
Sanderon says she was told her son’s school simply cannot do any of those requests because of funding restrictions.
“For William’s classroom he would be part of a group of 40 students with his classroom and another classroom. That’s a lot of kids, a lot of exposure. That means William won’t see his grandparents. I have asthma so I’m at risk; we’re taking a lot of risk. The risk of COVID-19 coming into our home is real. William has had pneumonia, he has had some lung issues,” said Sanderson.
The Ministry of Education has announced all school divisions will be posting its safe return to school plans online no later than the end of the day and the plans may be updated or refined.
The federal government has also announced school divisions in the province will have access to an additional $74.9 million and it will be added to the $40 million the province has set aside for the COVID contingency fund and the $40 million available through school division savings.
In a statement to CTV News, Wyant said, “As we work with our sector partners to ensure a safe return to school, we know that there will be increased costs associated with staffing, preparation and supplies. With the federal government’s contribution, there is now up to $150 million available to our education sector for costs associated with a safe return to school.”
The ministry also distributed six million masks and the first shipment has been delivered to all 27 school divisions along with full-face shields for its teachers and staff. A second shipment of masks has also been sent and will be delivered during the first week of school.
Meanwhile, Saskatoon Public Schools and Greater Saskatoon Catholic Schools unveiled their reopen plans for high school students.
Both school divisions will be adopting block scheduling in which students will take two classes a day. Saskatoon Public Schools will divide its high school students’ school year into five learning terms called quints.
During each quint, a student will take one class in the morning and another in the afternoon. Each duration of 159 minutes, with a staggered 10-minute break. Each quint will last 37 days. The division says students will still have the option of achieving 10 credits per school year.
Greater Saskatoon Catholic Schools is taking a similar approach, dividing the school year into blocks ranging from 30 to 44 days. During each block, students can take up to two classes. The classes will be offered during morning and afternoon periods that will run 115 to 175 minutes long.
