(File photo/northeastNOW Staff)

By Cam Lee

NESD fall plans

North East School Division preparing for schools to reopen this fall

Jul 13, 2020 | 12:03 PM

Summer holidays are well underway for students and teachers, but work continues behind the scenes with schools reopening this fall.

Schools across Saskatchewan closed in March due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and the provincial government implemented supplemental learning.

School boards were asked to submit a plan for re-opening to the Ministry of Education by the end of June.

North East School Division (NESD) Director of Education Don Rempel told northeastNOW they are looking for feedback from the Ministry on the plan they developed.

“We’ll have a template to share with our school administrators and teachers so they can make school-level preparations for the fall,” Rempel said.

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Communications between the division, the Ministry, and board officials in August, and Rempel said the formalization of the re-opening plan will take place at the NESD board meeting next month.

“Then we’ll have time for school staff to look at school procedures and routines they can put in place to reinforce physical distancing where possible, have cleaning of high touch-point areas, and also have students work with a limited number of adults throughout the day,” Rempel said.

He said school administrators have already done a good job of planning for the fall. Elementary schools will have a homeroom setting, which Rempel said is not out of the norm.

NESD high school programs will have block scheduling, in which there will be just three courses in a day, instead of the traditional five.

“We’re well set up for having smaller groups of students working with a smaller number of teachers through the day,” Rempel said.

Rempel added a lot of the new school-based practices should become to feel quite familiar within a few weeks. There will also be a heightened awareness to illness, and students or staff feeling sick should stay home. Cleaning protocols will also be in place.

There are protocols in place should the COVID-19 situation worsen, according to Rempel. He said the division is well-prepared for all scenarios, and all teachers are trained and able to develop online supports for students should schools be forced to close province-wide, or on a localized basis.

Rempel said the division is looking forward to re-opening schools.

“It’s always an exciting time to come back to school. There might be a little bit of anxiety, but we’ve shared a thought exchange survey with our parents and with our staff on what their hopes are and what their front of mind concerns are going forward,” Rempel said. “I think we’ll be well positioned to address any concerns that our staff or parents have before school starts.”

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cam.lee@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @camlee1974