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Edmonton Public Schools will require students and staff to wear masks and undergo daily health screenings once classes return in September.
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The school board released its re-entry plan on Monday morning, outlining the precautions it is taking to mitigate the risk of COVID-19 spread in schools.
The plan includes requiring the use of masks for all students and staff, daily health screening for students and staff before coming to school, a stay-at-home protocol for those who are sick, and enhanced cleaning and disinfecting in schools and on yellow buses.
Physical distancing will be encouraged where possible, cohorts of students will be created where possible, there will be hand hygiene requirements for students and staff as well as isolation requirements for staff and students if they have core COVID-19 symptoms or test positive for COVID-19. Edmonton Public Schools will also partner with Alberta Health to set up vaccination clinics in schools.
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“We are looking forward to welcoming more than 100,000 students back to school in a couple of weeks. Our Back to School plan prioritizes the safety of our students and staff, gives families a choice for how they will learn for the first half of the school year, and high quality teaching and learning for our students as the pandemic continues to evolve,” said Edmonton Public Schools Supt. Darrel Robertson in a news release.
“I encourage families to read the plan and make their choice about whether their child will learn in-person or online for the first half of the school year.”
Families will be able to make a choice between in-person and online learning for the first half of the 2021-22 school year. The deadline to choose is Thursday, Aug. 19 at 4 p.m.
Edmonton Public School Board Chair Trisha Estabrooks and Robertson will be speaking to media about the re-entry plan at noon on Monday.
The Edmonton Catholic School Division plans to release their back-to-school plan Monday afternoon.
More to come.
