Province assigns COVID-19 homework Families get detailed back-to-school information packages in advance of Tuesday's return to classes By: Maggie Macintosh Posted: 7:00 PM CDT Wednesday, Sep. 2, 2020

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This article was published 02/09/2020 (1613 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Less than a week before the school year starts, families have been handed a lengthy list of reading materials to study up on pandemic learning protocols.

Manitoba Education released a back-to-school information package Wednesday containing a COVID-19 screening checklist, updated guidance on mask use and a breakdown of what will happen if the virus is detected in a school community.

“Everyone is working to limit the spread of COVID-19 in Manitoba, but we will see cases linked to schools,” Dr. Brent Roussin wrote in a letter penned to parents across the province earlier this week.

Roussin said that within 24 hours of a case being confirmed, a public health investigation will begin to contact individuals who might have been exposed. Public health is expected to provide instructions for self-isolation and potential testing and follow up with people when they can return to school.

Contract tracers will inform school administrators if an individual visited school during an infectious period. In the event officials find a large number of cases within a school or identify high risk of community transmission, they may order a closure.

“Everyone is working to limit the spread of COVID-19 in Manitoba, but we will see cases linked to schools.”
– Dr. Brent Roussin in a letter to Manitoba parents

School leaders will be required to co-ordinate with local officials about informing the wider community. The province will also include details about cases identified in schools in its daily COVID-19 update.

“My belief is that we should be providing as much information as we can when it comes to particulars in schools,” Education Minister Kelvin Goertzen said during a Wednesday press conference.

Brenda Brazeau, executive director of the Manitoba Association of Parent Councils, said parents deserve the same type of notices that go out about lice cases in schools when it comes to COVID-19.

“We don’t want to take our kids going to school for granted and we definitely don’t want to take their health for granted,” Brazeau said. “We want to know.”

In order to prevent cases altogether, the province’s new resources explain how and when non-medical masks should be worn.

All students will now be required to sport face coverings on school buses, but only students in Grade 4 and up, as well as staff members, have to wear a mask inside school buildings. The youngest students in Grade 3-4 split classes are asked to wear masks where physical distancing is not possible.

“My belief is that we should be providing as much information as we can when it comes to particulars in schools.”
– Education Minister Kelvin Goertzen

The province asks individuals to wash their hands before putting on and taking off masks and to not dangle them or move them below the nose or mouth.

Mask-wearing exceptions will apply to community members who are under age two, are experiencing breathing difficulties or are unable to remove a mask without assistance due to age, ability or developmental status. Medical notes will not be required.

K-8 students will return to school full time next week, while most high schoolers will start the school year with blended learning. But if the province’s new colour-coded alert level — currently yellow — changes, so could learning models.

If the COVID-19 situation improves to green, in-person classes will resume full time for all. If it slips to orange, stricter occupancy rules will be imposed and Grade 9-12 students will pivot to full-time remote learning. A red status could prompt school closures for all except children of essential workers, teachers included.

“It’s a bit reminiscent of the time I woke up on the morning that a term paper was due, and tried to write it before class.”
– NDP Leader Wab Kinew

Goertzen said Wednesday his hope is the new details will alleviate anxieties about the upcoming school year. Opposition leaders, however, were quick to call out the province for its tardiness in releasing plans so close to Tuesday’s resumption of classes.

“It’s a bit reminiscent of the time I woke up on the morning that a term paper was due, and tried to write it before class,” said NDP Leader Wab Kinew, who criticized the government for failing to invest in smaller class sizes and hiring more school clinicians.

Parents, Brazeau included, continue to call on the province to provide a universal online learning option.

When asked about the matter Wednesday, Goertzen stood by the province’s current plans. “The best place for a child’s learning is in the classroom,” he said, adding home-schooling remains an option for families.

maggie.macintosh@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @macintoshmaggie