Screengrab from Alberta NDP / Facebook

By Chris Brown

Six-point plan

Alberta NDP calls for more COVID-19 supports, data for grade school students

Jan 4, 2022 | 1:49 PM

The provincial NDP has unveiled a six-point plan to keep students safe when they return to in-person learning.

“Students have been sent home at least four times now with almost no notice, and many more times at some schools. This throws families into chaos every time,” said NDP Leader Rachel Notley. “In order to reopen Alberta schools next week and keep them open safely through the school year, the government must do more than dump the problem onto school districts and hope for the best. We need action.”

The NDP proposal includes greater public reporting, new mental health supports and the installation of High-Efficiency Particulate Air (HEPA) purifiers.

Alberta Education Minister Adriana LaGrange announced last week that Kindergarten to Grade 12 students would not return to school until Jan. 10.

NDP Education Critic Sarah Hoffman says the “UCP’s record on school safety is very poor but we are determined to continue to propose steps that will keep students, staff and families safe, especially now as Omicron is proving to spread very aggressively.”

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The Alberta NDP’s six-point plan:

• Public reporting of the infection and absentee rate of school staff, providing Albertans with a picture as to whether schools will be forced to close again due to a lack of staff.
• Immediate funding to move substitute teachers onto contract for the remainder of the school year to help backfill staffing levels and to hire additional substitute teachers where possible.
• Provide N95 masks for staff and students. Medical professionals continue to point out that N95 masks offer the best protection against airborne spread of COVID-19.
• Install HEPA filters—or High Efficiency Particulate Air filters—in schools to reduce the risk in confined spaces, as well as carbon dioxide detectors to measure how effectively a school’s ventilation system is refreshing the air in a classroom.
• Hire mental health counsellors for every Alberta school to support students dealing with stress, isolation, and uncertainty that impacts their learning.
• Create an Alberta Learn-at-Home fund to support families when their kids are forced to stay home. The fund would provide $500 per student and $750 per student with complex needs.