Students and staff at Okotoks schools are happy to be back in the classroom, following an extended winter break that saw the return to school just over a week ago.
“This week, like the start of any return from holidays, there’s a little bit of apprehension, but once 8:35 rolls around — and by 9:00 it’s like there was never a vacation,” said Scott Carey, principal at Big Rock School.
On Dec. 30, Education Minister Adriana LaGrange said the return to school for K-12 students would be moved from Jan. 3 to Jan. 10 as cases of the Omicron variant continued to rise and concerns surrounding potential staffing shortages became apparent.
Ahead of the return, the province said 8.6 million rapid tests and 16.5 million medical-grade masks would be sent to schools for students and staff.
Extra week off proved useful
Scott Morrison, superintendent at Christ the Redeemer Catholic Schools, said the division used the week-long delay to build contingency plans to prepare for anticipated, significant staff and student absentee rates.
Staff were tasked with preparing substitute plans for a variety of scenarios in case of what could be an extended absence on their part, or that of a student.
“We had all of our teachers make five days of what we call emergency sub plans during that break,” said Morrison. “And the emergency sub plans are just five days of schoolwork that kids can do at any time in the year. It’s just generic lessons.”
Teachers were also told to prepare for more missing students than usual and asked to design assigned lessons that integrated “make-up tasks” into them.
“We really were impressed with how our teachers used the time,” he said. “We felt quite prepared.”
Foothills School Division (FSD) superintendent Chris Fuzessy said while the extra week did give staff time to prepare, FSD already had the necessary plans in place to be able to welcome students back without the seven-day extension.
“We were ready to go [Jan. 3],” he said. “We certainly will abide by the directives of Alberta Education and public health but felt that our processes had placed us in a good space to be able to pivot if needed, to be able open to open last Monday.”
Happy to be back
“I think the vibe is very normal, actually,” said Holy Trinity Academy principal Carmen Ostafichuk on the atmosphere amongst students and teachers as they returned. “Kids prefer to learn in class and they’re just doing their best among the new plan. Parents prefer to send their kids to school and they’re doing their best with the new plan too and following it all they can.”
Vince Hunter, principal at Foothills Composite High School said while students are excited to be back, there is always the concern that they’ll have to shift back to online classes.
“I think kids are super excited, of course, they want normality in their lives again and school is a part of that for these kids,” he said. “I think there still is that unsettled worry — Are we going to get sent home? Are our clubs going to get cancelled? Are our teams going to get put on hold?”
Excitement was also buzzing through the halls at St. Mary’s School, said principal Brandon Bailey.
“There really isn’t a substitute for that in-person, face-to-face learning environment,” he said. “Online learning is a challenge for everyone, parents, teachers and students included and so being in class has been positive.”
Staff and student absences
With Omicron proving to be more contagious than previous variants, having enough staff present for day-to-day operations is of the utmost importance to local school boards.
“The most important thing for us is the staff absentee rate,” said Morrison.
In the first two days of the January school year, CTR’s staff absentee rate was 9.6 per cent and 8.4 per cent respectively. The normal rate is just below five per cent, he said.
The division consistently tracks what Morrison called the “failure to fill rate” — the number of positions that are unable to be covered by substitute teachers. So far, Morrison said that percentage has been very low, clocking in at less than the normal average.
“The reason for that, is we did so much planning in that week after Christmas,” he said, while explaining that anticipating staff absences has become part of the division’s protocol, allowing them to look ahead at positions that will need to be filled.
Morrison said another tool in CTR’s pocket is its arsenal of trained non-certified classroom supervisors, who can step in to watch a class if there is no teacher available.
The first few days of the school year at FSD saw higher rates of absenteeism for both staff and students, according to Fuzessy.
“What we’re seeing is an average of about 10 to 15 per cent,” he said.
Mask and test delivery
Ostafichuk said that HTA received their shared of masks and rapid tests on Jan. 11, although the distribution process wasn’t exactly as easy as she had hoped.
“Each kid gets a package of five [pre-packaged] tests, so that’s an easy handout,” she said. “But they each needed to get 20 masks and they came in boxes of not 20.
"We had some helpers who sanitized, wore their masks, wore gloves and grouped them and we had to put them in Ziploc bags. We had to put 900 groups of 20 masks [in bags].”
As of Jan. 14, HTA had received both their masks and tests from the government, while St. Mary’s sent their students home with tests on Jan. 11 but is still waiting on masks. Morrison said, as of Jan. 11, the division had received masks at seven of its 17 schools.
While the public division is looking forward to sending masks and tests home with their students, Morrison said this will likely result in a higher rate of absences among staff and students.
“We do think that that’s going to lead to an increase in people staying home,” said Morrison.
Big Rock School has yet to receive either masks or tests as of Jan. 14.
FCHS has received both tests and masks but is working on a distribution plan given that more than 900 kits must be packaged and given out, said principal Hunter. Jordan Rhodes, principal of Westmount School, said they were also waiting on tests and masks as of Jan. 14.
“That’s one thing we’re really hearing from families, is they were anticipating those rapid tests, just so they had that peace of mind to know what they’re dealing with at home,” Rhodes said.
A shout out to students, staff and teachers
Morrison said the division also wants to ensure that the overall wellness of staff is being recognized and is working to find ways to further support staff in their health, including pandemic-exhaustion and mental well-being.
He said that educators in the division often prioritize their students.
“They always put themselves last,” he said.
Ostafichuk also wanted to recognize students, but especially those in their Grade 12 year, who she said have had their high-school careers swallowed up by the pandemic.
“They have developed such flexibility and resilience,” she said. "They still come here with smiles on their faces and they’re happy to be here.”
Also worth recognizing are all the teachers, Ostafichuk said.
“What the staff has done and learned and how we’ve grown in the last few years [is exceptional],” she said.
Hunter echoed that sentiment when it came to FCHS students and staff.
“We’re just really proud of our kids and our staff,” he said. “People are working really hard, and I don’t know that people can necessarily understand the stresses that the staff work under and the barriers that these kids face daily to be students.
"It's not easy, but boy, the kids have been amazing, the staff have been amazing and we’re very fortunate in our community — our community have been over-the-top supportive of our school.”
