Planning for 2020-21 remains a challenge for local school boards

“As is expected, what we’ve heard is we have to be prepared to do things in a variety of ways depending on the course of the pandemic in Alberta,” said Medicine Hat Public School Division superintendent Mark Davidson.

The only certainty local boards were given was in the form of the current school year, which will be finished under the current guidelines of at-home learning for students.

Dwayne Zarichny, superintendent and CEO of the Medicine Hat Catholic Board of Education, said that ruling makes life easier for teachers and support staff who can now focus on finishing the year under one method.

“Now that we know we’ll be using this current model until the end of the year, it allows folks to complete their planning until the end of June and really not be stressed about trying to develop an alternative plan,” said Zarichny.

The Medicine Hat Public School Division is also prepared to ride out the rest of the school year through online methods, adding the outcomes learned through this process will help improve the skills of their employees.

“We are prepared to continue and finish the year this way,” said Davidson. “I think we’re doing a good job of bringing continuity to learning for our students and working hard to support those for whom it isn’t easy.”

Prairie Rose School Division say that they weren’t caught off guard by the province’s re-entry program and say they have been given no indication regarding which option will take place in September.

The task of mapping out the upcoming school year still remains a sizable hurdle for local divisions, as Zarichny said they still need further clarification before a plan for 2020-21 is finalized.

“We are hoping in the next few weeks that we get some indication from either the ministry or the office of the Chief Medical Officer to give us a bit of direction in terms of how we should be best spending our time getting ready for the fall,” he said. “The three scenarios presented, they are significant departures from each other.”

Despite the uncertainty regarding how education will be rolled out in the fall, enrollment doesn’t seem to be a major concern for any of the local boards.

The Medicine Hat Catholic Board of Education have been seeing growth at the middle school levels in previous years and are expecting numbers to rise next fall, even if that comes with online learning.

“We’re projecting to have between two and three percent growth this year,” said Zarichny. “We’re seeing growth now at the elementary and high school levels. It’s very exciting for us because really all three sectors of our jurisdiction now are experiencing growth.”

Zarichny credits moving to an online registration platform as helping to simplify the process and make life easier for new families and returning parents to sign up their kids for the fall.

Both the Prairie Rose School Division and Medicine Hat Public School Division say they aren’t expecting enrollment to be greatly impacted in 2020-21 due to the pandemic.

However, Davidson said they have been seeing a bit of dip recently in kindergarten registrations.

“It may be that next year’s school year isn’t front of mind if people are really just working to make sure they take care of one another and finish this year as best they can within this unusual environment we’re in today,” he said. “So, we’re not at all surprised that there’s some odd shifts in our enrollment and our communication is a little bit different.”

Davidson added it’s important for parents to know that planning for the fall semester remains a priority for MHPSD and they’re contacting parents who have not registered yet to discuss where they’re at.

by Scott Roblin

Planning for 2020-21 remains a challenge for local school boards

Our Community