(fIle photo/northeastNOW Staff)

By Mat Barrett

Back to School

No surprises for NESD in provincial return to school plan

Aug 5, 2020 | 4:00 PM

On Tuesday, Aug. 5, the Government of Saskatchewan unveiled its Safe Return to School Plan, and now school divisions have more clarity as to what school will look like come September.

The North East School Divison (NESD), along with every other school division in the province, submitted its local plan for a return to school earlier this summer. For the NESD it included homeroom and cohorts for students, and less blocks of classes per day to help limit contact with numerous teachers and other students.

Tuesday’s announcement saw the province put out eight key categories for a safe return to school, things like safe transportation, safe classrooms, safe alternatives, and more.

NESD Director of Education Don Rempel believes the division is well set up to go back to school safely.

“Each of our school communities are pretty self-contained,” he said. “As far as having transportation systems, small class sizes, and a very stable teaching force.”

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Provincially, mask use has been a major topic of conversation, and not just in classrooms. The province determined masks won’t be mandatory in schools to begin with, but it is an option down the road if the Chief Medical Health Officer deems they are appropriate.

“Certainly as the economy reopens and businesses have been opening up, we’re seeing more and more mask use and we’re seeing that as a good mitigation strategy,” Rempel told northeastNOW. “So, we are open to having masks, and we will take direction from local and provincial health authorities around what the appropriate protocol is for when exactly would students and staff would want to wear masks or face shields in the case of the adults.”

Rempel said as a division, they won’t mandate them now, but if students or staff would like to wear one, that is fine.

Next for the NESD is making sure all the right processes are in place for when students come back to school. One of the main processes that will need to be ironed out is how to deal with someone who begins to exhibit symptoms of COVID-19. Rempel said that person would be isolated immediately until a parent can pick them up from school.

Rempel said leading up to the beginning of September, students will need to register for schools the same way as normal, and look over the safety protocols.

“A little less interaction between students in the building,” Rempel said. “But giving the opportunity to come back to school and see their classmates, and it’s important for teachers to come back and it’s something we’re really looking forward to.”

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mat.barrett@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @matbarrett6