COVID-19: Alberta to Delay Return to Preschool Kindergarten to 12th until January 10 | The Canadian News

In light of increasing COVID-19 cases and the rapid spread of the Omicron variant, Alberta is extending winter break for students across the province, and children in kindergarten through 12th grade will not return to school. until January 10.

Education Minister Adriana LaGrange made the announcement Thursday night after a COVID-19 cabinet meeting. He said the decision was “just finalized” and he wanted to share the news with Albertans as soon as possible.

LaGrange said education department officials spoke with school officials over winter break and heard they were concerned about staffing challenges, not only with teaching staff, but also with staff like bus drivers, janitors and administration workers.

“They are concerned about the rapid rise of the Omicron variant and the impacts on our schools,” LaGrange said.

She said schools are expecting many absences and are concerned about being able to manage learning in person and online.

“School officials have told us they need more time to prepare … and understand what Omicron means to their operations,” LaGrange said.

An update on next steps will take place next week, including additional rapid tests and medical masks.

Starting January 10, Alberta schools will receive 8.6 million rapid tests for COVID-19, LaGrange said.

“That means two five-test kits for every student and staff member throughout the education system.”

LaGrange said 16.5 million medical grade masks will also be provided to staff and students.

“We are also canceling the January diploma exams, which were scheduled to begin on January 11,” he said.

LaGrange said that, right now, these are all the changes the government is making to in-person learning.

“The cabinet committee is currently meeting and Dr. Hinshaw will talk about other possible measures tomorrow,” he added.

LaGrange reiterated that as the pandemic evolves, so must the province’s response. He said officials from the Education Ministry would speak to school boards Thursday night and be available over the weekend to answer questions.

Trend stories

• 

  Ontario breaks previous single-day record with nearly 14,000 new COVID cases

• 

  Epstein and Giuffre deal to be made public and affect Prince Andrew’s case

The minister acknowledged that this news will be hard for parents, who will have to make plans for another week at home with their children.

“In very challenging circumstances, I am very grateful to parents, students, teachers, and educational partners for their resilience and flexibility.”

He said the decision was taken “very, very seriously” and that the cabinet committee had “a lot of discussion” about how this change would affect staffing shortages in other industries, as some parents may have to stay home with their children. instead of going to work.

“But again, we strongly believe that we must ensure that our schools are well positioned for success, that we have everything in place when we bring our students back to in-person learning.

“And right now we feel like we need to add those extra measures of rapid tests and masks. So it is a decision that was made given all that context.

“We recognize that it will create some challenges for certain parents and certain families and I apologize for that. But, unfortunately, Omicron has faced us with this circumstance ”.

Early Thursday, the Ontario government delayed the start of classes until January 5, 2022. That province also introduced capacity limits for large venues as it struggles to control the rapid spread of the Omicron variant of COVID-19.

Most classes in Ontario were scheduled to resume after Monday’s winter break, but that was delayed two days until Wednesday to give schools time to prepare.

BC is also delaying the start of face-to-face school until January 10 for most students in kindergarten through 12th grade.

Alberta Health announced Thursday that around 4,000 new COVID-19 cases were confirmed during the last 24 hours from around 13,000 tests. That’s a big jump from the record 2,775 new cases reported on Wednesday.

On Thursday, Alberta’s positivity rate stood at about 30 percent.

About 21,000 active cases were reported.

The opposition is delighted that return to classes is being delayed and diploma exams are canceled.

But NDP Deputy Director Sarah Hoffman said the UCP government does not yet have a plan to address Omicron or staff the schools.

“We also need a plan to reinforce PPE in schools. Teachers need N-95 masks, ”he said. “The minister did not commit to the N95s and that should happen first.”

Hoffman also said schools need HEPA filters and air filtration systems.

The NDP also wants to see funding for schools to address those needs, as well as funding for families for home learning and emergency child care.

Hoffman said the PCU government waited too long to act and described the lack of planning as “incompetent leadership.”