All Regina public schools moving to remote learning starting next week until Jan. 11

Public schools in Regina are temporarily moving to remote learning as of next week, the school board announced in a letter Monday.

All students from pre-kindergarten to Grade 12 will move to remote learning for the week before the holiday break,Dec. 14 to 18, 2020, and the week after the break, Jan. 4 to 8, 2021. In-class learning will resume on Jan. 11, 2021, the letter says.

All staff will continue working at the schools, it added.

"We're on the cusp of some very challenging times in terms of providing learning for our students and having adequate staffing in our schools," said Terry Lazarou, spokesperson for Regina Public Schools, adding that the decision to switch was made by the school division.

"This is one of the solutions that wecould use to ensure that our students continue to learn, but also continue to learn in a safe way, and that their holidays are not interrupted because of being close contacts to someone in the school."

Last month the provincial government suggested that high schools with at least 600 students move to Level 3 of the Saskatchewan Safe Schools Plan, which reduces the amount of in-class learning.

As of Dec. 7, 89 people in Regina Public Schools 63 students and 26 staff have tested positive for COVID-19, with 39 of 57 schools in the divisionaffected, according to the letter.

It says Monday's announcement of temporary remote learning is to prevent a prolonged shift to Level 4 of the Safe Schools Plan, which results in a "transition to alternative learning opportunities offered by [school] divisions."

"We hope this plan will give school families the peace of mind that students will continue their learning andwill not get sick at school, or be identified as a close contact and have to be quarantined from their lovedones over the holiday period," Adam Hicks, school board chair, said in the letter.

The Saskatchewan Teachers' Federation, which represents over 13,500 teachers in the province, backs the move, as it allows students in Regina to "orderly transition" into remote learning instead of being forced into it, president Patrick Maze said.

"They're seeing a really difficult situation in classrooms where some classrooms are shut down, others are still running. Some entire schools are shut down, others are still running. There's just so much turmoil in schools because of COVID-19 that taking a general approach prior to Christmas makes a lot of sense," said Maze.

Staff absenteeism a challenge to safe operations

There has been nearly 25 per cent moredays where staff are absent compared to anaverage year, according to the letter, and that makes it increasingly difficult to safely run schools.

As of Dec. 7, more than 8,422 employee absence days have been used throughout Regina Public Schools. That is 24 per cent more than the typical year, and more than 1,100 of those days were due to quarantine leave, the letter says.

There has been a "chronic shortfall" in being able to replace missing staff with the available pool of substitute teachers, it adds.

"Schools require a certain amount of adults in them to ensure that the students in them staysafe," said Lazarou, noting that staff can mean anyone from teachers to custodians.

Naturally, when staffcannot be in a school, the schools would look for substitutes. But it was getting to the point where schools were having trouble finding replacements, he said.

The increase in absenteeism is due to teachersand staff being proactive and staying even with the slightest symptoms, said Maze, but a portion of the substitute pool includesretired teachers, and theydon't want to risk going where COVID-19 may be present.

"It's kind of a double whammy where you get more teachers using sick time, but fewer substitute teachers are able to come in and cover," he said. "Thatcauses a lot of stress in the school."

It forces other staff, such as school administrators or learning resources teachers, to cover for their colleagues or put two classes togetherininstances where a suitable replacement cannot be found, he said.

Another part of the move related to anxiety and mental health, the letter says.

"What we're seeing is the uncertainty of what tomorrow is going to bring," said Lazarou, adding that many are anxious about whether they will get a phone call saying they or their children must stay home because they are a close contact.

"There's generalized anxietybecause we are in the middle ofa global pandemic, however it's theuncertainty of what's going to come next ... and that is causing a certain amount of stress both with our school families and our staff."

Change discussed in question period

Meanwhile, the Regina Public Schools announcement was discussed briefly during question period at the legislature Monday.

"This is another example of schools having to make decisions without the guidance, without the support of this government, causing further chaos in people's family lives as they scramble to find child care, causing more chaos in our education systemwhich has been the pattern with this government to the premium," Opposition NDP Leader Ryan Meilisaid.

Meili then asked what guidance Education Minister Dustin Duncanis giving to schools to ensure families know what the plan is for the coming weeks.

There were "several inaccuracies" with Meili's question, as the Safe Schools Plan allows for school divisions to act independently, based on their respective COVID-19 situations,Duncan said in response.

"What the school division has done here in Regina is proactively communicated with families, to indicate to them that they will move to Level 4for one week prior to Christmas and one week following the Christmas break," Duncan said.

"That's a decision that the local board has made and that they feel is in the best interest of their teachers and of their students."

Neither the Regina Catholic School Division,Greater Saskatoon Catholic School Divisionnor Saskatoon Public Schools currently planon movingtheir respective schools to remote learning.