COCHRANE— St. Timothy High School students began learning online Monday (April 19) after the activation of circuit breaker measures to help limit the spread of COVID-19.
Calgary Catholic School District chief superintendent Bryan Szumlas said he was happy to see Calgary, Cochrane and Airdrie students move online for Grades 7 to 12, but was disappointed Chestermere was not included.
“This is definitely going in the right direction,” Szumlas said. “I think moving our students to online learning is one different thing that we can do to help reduce the curve.”
The measures are in place for two weeks and the school board will reassess and work with health experts to understand if they should be left in place longer.
“COVID-19 is unpredictable— With all of the variant strains that have emerged from the original COVID-19 it makes it hard to say,” Szumlas said. “I’m hopeful that this is just a two-week circuit breaker, but we will need to rely on professionals to let us know if this should continue or not.”
The circuit breaker is part of a two-pronged plan Szumlas would like to see, he said, adding vaccinations for all school staff needs to be made available as well.
“I’m asking them [the provincial government] to rethink the vaccination of individuals who work inside our schools … I think that would also help make a difference in decreasing the spread,” Szumlas said. “Everyone inside that building is at risk and if we could help them get a vaccination that would be greatly appreciated.”
One of the major factors that determined which grades would move online was the age groups that are experiencing the highest rates of the virus.
In Calgary Catholic, the majority of schools in the outbreak category have tended to be junior and high schools.
Students in those age categories are more independent in comparison to elementary-aged students, Szumlas said, allowing them to move around more freely. While the students have done a great job following public measures they may be experiencing “COVID fatigue” and may be a little laxer with health measures.
Szumlas said it is difficult to provide a set number of students and staff in isolation or quarantine, as the numbers are always changing, but estimates on any given day there are around 3,500 to 4,000 individuals. This estimate is based on the pre-spring break numbers.
St. Timothy High School is currently on alert for two to four cases of the virus.
Szumlas praised the staff of St. Timothy High School for their hard work in instilling and practicing health measures with students.
“We’re not seeing huge numbers growing out of control, but we are seeing numbers,” Szumlas said.
The school board made the request to move online based on several factors including chronic substitute teacher shortages, high numbers of staff and students in quarantine or isolation and substantially high COVID-19 cases in communities.
“Whenever we’re short if we don’t have guest teachers or substitute teachers to fill vacancies, that takes its toll because then we are scrambling internally in the school to try and find other teachers who may not be experts,” Szumlas said.
The shift to online learning will help maintain program continuity because the same teacher will be working with the students at home.
“We know that learning online at home is not easy, it’s not easy for anyone, and we just want to thank [parents] for your patience and understanding,” Szumlas said.
The Calgary Catholic School District is one of many boards in the province activating COVID-19 circuit breaker measures. The Calgary Board of Education, Edmonton Public schools and Edmonton Catholic Schools are also moving to at-home learning for Grades 7 to 12 to help curb the spread of COVID-19.
Rocky View Schools provided a statement to The Cochrane Eagle regarding a potential move online in the district.
"RVS schools have been impacted by COVID-19 differently across the district with some being hit particularly hard at times, while others have had very few to no cases throughout the year. Our division covers a large area and includes many different communities that have also varied in the number of positive cases. We are monitoring our system and schools closely against the Government of Alberta’s newly released criteria to determine if we might need to request approval to shift a school or our entire system temporarily online," reads the statement. "RVS schools have remained open as we are able to maintain enough teachers in classrooms and most students are able to come to school (not isolating). If our situation changes, we will inform staff and families as quickly as we can and support whatever transition may be required. We continue to be impressed and grateful for the flexibility and cooperation our staff, students and parents have demonstrated throughout this challenging school year."
