CALGARY -- It’s the questions on the minds of parents and teachers working from home: When will Alberta students go back to school and what might that look like due to COVID-19?

In-person classes have been cancelled for the remainder of the 2019/2020 school year but the province unveiled three potential scenarios for students come September.

  • Normal school operations are able to resume
  • Schools are partially re-opened, with some level of restrictions.
  • Teacher-directed at-home learning continues.

The government says no decision has been made for the 2020/2021 school year. It will be up to Alberta’s Chief Medical Officer Dr. Deena Hinshaw and dependent on where Alberta is in its relaunching strategy for the province.

Education Minister Adriana LaGrange says the re-entry plan will prioritize the safety and well-being of teachers, staff and student.

"The challenge of reopening schools is very complex. We appreciate the efforts of the minister and department officials to meaningfully engage us on these important issues. The health and safety of students, teachers, staff, families and the broader community are paramount in these discussions. We are using input from provincial ATA teacher representatives and a recent COVID-19 related survey of over 2,000 teachers to share the views of the profession."

LaGrange says the decision will also be based on the feedback from school boards and will honour collective bargaining agreements.

The advocate group Support Our Students says important voices have so far been left out surrounding the issues of home-learning challenges and safely returning to classrooms.

"These are really detailed conversations that need to happen with caretakers, with admin staff, with care and maintenance, with child psychologists," said Barbara Silva with Support Our Students.

The group shares concerns about funding.

"What's the budget going to be? How are we going to do all this with the signficant cuts we've seen with this minister," said Sarah Hoffman the Alberta education critic.

Many families expressed concern about the challenges of students learning at home.

"It's really been hard. You're forced to not only be a teacher, but you're forced to be an employee," said Nicole Stordy.

She and her husband Shawn are both working full-time from home at the same time their oldest son has schoolwork, so they've hired full-time help.

"You definitely feel for those people who don't have those resources," she said, adding the temporary sacrifice to education is worth the alternative of putting people's health at risk.

Transitioning to online learning

While the third scenario isn’t ideal, LaGrange says she’s been impressed with how students, teachers and parents have transitioned to at-home learning since schools were closed on March 16th.

She says roughly 91 per cent of school across the province are currently offering online courses. 53 per cent of schools are emailing homework to students and 47 per cent are sending paper based resources and homework home to their student.

"I want to thank our teachers, school support staff, administrators, education partners and parents for quickly adapting to our current reality and helping ensure that their children continue to learn as best as possible under the circumstances. I know everyone is making the effort to connect students. I look forward to school returning when the time is right and health restrictions allow for it."

Curriculum support for parents and student can be found at Learn Alberta.

Support is also being offered through a helpline 780-422-6548 or by emailing studentsupport@gov.ab.ca