By Chris Brown

Back in on May 25

Education minister announces K-12 students going back to schools next week

May 19, 2021 | 2:53 PM

Kindergarten to Grade 12 students in southeastern Alberta will return to in-class learning after the long weekend.

Education Minister Adriana LaGrange said this afternoon the education system reset earlier this month that saw all K-12 students in the province move to online learning for more than two weeks was a success.

“It has helped to alleviate the operational pressures tied to the rise of COVID-19 cases in our communities,” she said.

The announcement of returning to in-person learning applies to all students in the province except for the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo. That area, which includes Fort McMurray, will remain in at-home learning for one more week.

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Students were shifted to at-home learning on May 4 as part of the province’s increased public health measures amid rising COVID-19 cases.

“At that time we were seeing large numbers of school staff and students in isolation, which made continuing in-person learning very difficult,” said LaGrange, adding it was a necessary decision to preserve the rest of the school year.

LaGrange said neither the decision to move to in-person learning and the decision to return to the classroom was made by Dr. Deena Hinshaw or Alberta Health.

Safety of students and staff remains her No. 1 priority, said LaGrange.

She said the decreasing number of students and staff isolating was a key metric used in the decision to return to in-person learning.

She said the safety protocols in schools are effective and are limiting the risk of widespread school transmission. All previous public health measures in place will remain, including masking, seating arrangements and cohorts.

Hinshaw said she “is confident that we can all work together to keep cases falling in young Albertans.”

“I know that in-person learning is critically important for many kids’ educational and social development and can provide a sense of normalcy in these uncertain times,” said the chief medical officer of health.

She said as a parent she understands the anxiety parents are feeling. But, she added, there’s been a sharp decline in cases among school-age kids from an average of 60 new cases a day for every 100,000 children and youth to about 31 a day.

Hinshaw said transmission rates in schools have risen and fallen with community transmission rates.

She said extracurricular sports, recreational and performance activities for children and youth will remain closed in high-transmission areas of the province for the next several weeks.