It has been three weeks since schools resumed in Alberta.
Support Our Students posted on their Twitter page that 46 schools with cases and 6 school-related outbreaks. An outbreak is defined as two or more cases of COVID -19 reported in a school. Teachers and parents affected at these schools naturally feel unsettled, to say the least. Without seeking to spread misinformation and fear, we wonder, can we last a school year?
Frustrations are gathering with large class sizes in most schools. Large class size was a problem before the pandemic struck, with COVID 19, the frailties of public education are laid bare for all to see.
The question is ‘has this government done all it reasonably can to keep students and teachers safe in Alberta’? The Alberta Teachers Association made seven recommendations to the government to ease re-opening. Their recommendations were largely ignored. They keep advocating for the safety of their teachers.
Seeking light and encouragement, Jason Schilling granted LCCMEDIA an interview. We talked about how teachers are feeling at the moment, support for teachers with pre-existing conditions and more. Passionate about public education in Alberta, Schilling urges school boards to begin to spend their allocation of $250million given to them by the Federal government. He writes on his Facebook page:
“The inability of school districts to figure out online teaching versus in-class teaching, the fluctuation of class size numbers, and changing of teaching assignments boggles my mind. School districts have now received the federal dollars that were allocated to them, they need to act now on using those dollars and their surpluses as well. I have always advocated that they need to start spending that money on people–teachers to address large class sizes, EA’s to provide support to teacher and students, custodians to do the needed cleaning throughout the day, and counsellors and other staff to address mental health needs”.
Photo credit: Jason Schilling| Facebook
