Pembina Trails plans safe return to school

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 21/08/2020 (2054 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

In a year filled with uncertainty about how students will be educated, the Pembina Trails School Division has technology it will use in the quest to ensure no class falls behind.

The board of trustees invested in the purchase of web cameras to be used in every classroom at each teacher’s discretion starting this September, said Ted Fransen, school division CEO and superintendent of education.

“This will allow teachers to maintain programming for kids who might be sick and must stay at home,” Fransen said. “Teachers will be able to invite those students to watch via Microsoft Teams and other software.”

The school division’s return to class plans, unveiled on Aug. 17, include compulsory non-medical masks for students in grades 4 to 12, cohorts for students in kindergarten to Grade 8, and in-class lessons for high school students for a minimum of two days during a six-day cycle.

“Our guiding principle this fall is the safety of our students and staff,” Fransen said. “For high school students, that means dividing them into three groups of one-third, each of which will be in school two days per cycle. This will allow everyone to be safe and also keep the academic program intact.”

The four other days per cycle will see the separate cohorts tuning in remotely via cameras (depending on the class), or following lessons posted online. All Pembina Trails students will be connected via technology, with many students having received laptops or tablets from the school division last spring. “The beauty of this is, as fall progresses, we could increase or decrease the frequency of which the cohorts come into school.”

Teachers will be able to invite students on a “home day” into the classroom using the cameras, when appropriate and at educators’ discretion, he said. Students with additional needs will attend school on a daily basis.

Pembina Trails has four high schools and two alternate high schools, including Fort Richmond Collegiate, Oak Park, Shaftesbury and Vincent Massey Collegiate, along with Pembina Trails Alternative and Pembina Trails Early College (PTEC). In total, there are 35 elementary, middle and high schools in the division.

Grade 11 and 12 students will continue to do their required hours of physical education outside of school hours. Fransen suggested that outdoor sports such as running, hiking, swimming where the student can do this solo or in small groups, will be popular picks this fall.

Students in kindergarten to Grade 8 will be in school five days a week and grouped into tight cohorts to limit and track interactions to enhance safety. Cohorts involve keeping groups of students, such as a class, together and avoiding interactions with other groups. The division will also encourage physical distancing within cohorts to the greatest extent possible, including separation between desks. When required, recess and lunch times may be staggered.

Junior high grades 6 to 8 will allow students more electives choices, including band or art classes.

“We know that so much of learning is in the interaction between teacher and students,” he said. “Last spring, we fell off the edge. Now, we know we’re in for the long haul, so there has been an impressive amount of creativity on the part of the assistant superintendants, the board of trustees, the principals and teachers and staff at each of the schools.”

The division surveyed parents, staff and students twice about various topics, once at the end of June and the second in July, regarding transportation.

“Transportation is our biggest challenge, and our greatest degree of sadness,” Fransen said. “A 72-passenger bus can only be used up to 20 per cent capacity. So parents and families will have to be creative in getting their students to school.”

In order to accommodate busy family schedules, each of the schools will be open earlier and later in the school day, with students under supervision before and after classes, he said.

All students with additional needs, and their eligible siblings, will be transported to and from school, along with eligible students attending childcare centres, PTEC and Manitoba Institute of Trades and Technology students.

Bus seat priority will be given to K to 6 students, youngest to oldest grades, who live the furthest away from school. All school bus passengers in grades 4 and older, and the driver, will be required to wear a non-medical mask. These should be put on before loading. Students in younger grades may also wear a non-medical mask.

For high school students who opt not to return for in-person classes, the division runs a virtual high school called InformNet in conjunction with the St. James School Division. This provides students with daily instruction, assignments and evaluation through regular email and web-based interaction from a certified high school teacher. The student’s home school provides the course credit when subject requirements are met.

“We’ve offered this for the past 23 years, and I expect more students will take advantage this year,” Fransen said, adding he expects high school students from outside the division are welcome to sign up, noting these would pay a fee for the classes.

All these measures, plus enhanced cleaning, screening of children before they leave home for symptoms of illness, and more, should help ease anxiety on the part of students, their parents and guardians.

“We’re getting parents expressing anxiety and concerns. Some are worried about sending their kids to school. Others are worried their kids won’t be in school enough,” Fransen said. “We’re in uncharted territory here. Once September is over, we’ll be much more aware of how things are working or not working. We’ll be making adjustments as the year progresses.”

Pembina Trails schools will connect with families to provide more specific details by the end of August, he said.

For more on the division’s return to school plans, see www.pembinatrails.ca