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By Chantal Wagner

at-home circuit breaker for Calgary schools

In-class learning continues for local school divisions

Apr 15, 2021 | 5:18 PM

MEDICINE HAT, AB – With the Calgary Board of Education and Calgary Catholic School District being granted a temporary transition to at-home learning starting on Monday, local school boards will continue classes in-person, as usual.

Medicine Hat Public School Board, Prairie Rose, and Medicine Hat Catholic Board believe the current COVID-19 situation in the city does not meet the requirements for at-home learning at this time.

Those provincial requirements include a chronic substitute teacher shortage, a significant number of students and staff in quarantine or isolation, recent requests from the board for short-term shifts for a number of their schools, and substantial COVID-19 cases in the community.

Alberta Teachers’ Association President Jason Schilling says boards will have to address that question and do what’s best for them.

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“It goes back to always my first starting point is safety. The safety of students and the kids in that building and the teachers who are working with them and the rest of the staff. That’s what we have to start off on. And if a board decides or a school decides that they need a circuit breaker, then the government should be listening to them.”

According to the government, about 81 percent of schools in Alberta currently don’t have alerts or outbreaks at this time.

“We know that our schools are as safe as our communities and so when we see cases rise in our communities, they rise within the school. Knowing that, we always want to make sure safety is the most important factor for students and staff working in the buildings.” Schilling added.