View From the Legislature

While there is much of summer left, it is the traditional time when some thought would turn to the upcoming school year for those that have school aged children at home. Of course, this is no traditional year and many parents have been wondering for some time already what the upcoming school year would bring after a spring in which schools were closed for much of the time.

Last week I was joined by Manitoba’s Chief Public Health Officer, Dr. Brent Roussin, as it was announced that all schools in Manitoba would reopen in September. While Manitoba was one of only three provinces in Canada that was able to open schools in June for limited use, there were still many questions from parents about whether schools would reopen in fall.

As with other decisions during these times, the Manitoba Government’s decision on schools is being led by advice from Public Health officials. While COVID19 data as it relates to Manitoba changes daily, it is the role of our health officials to take a steady and longer-term view on decisions based on Manitoba evidence. They then set the requirements necessary to return students to classes and Manitoba Education and local school boards then work to build plans around those requirements.

While all schools and all grades will return to in-class learning in September, it will not look the same as it did last September. Many parents, teachers and other school staff have been wanting to know what precautions will be taken given the current health situation. There will be increased emphasis put on cleaning the school and buses as well as personal hand washing. On school buses, there will be assigned seating and students will generally be seated with other family members or others from their class. Within the school, there will be emphasis put on physical spacing with some classes remaining together in their learning groups for the day. Lunches and recesses will be staggered to help avoid the congestion in the hallways that happens during this time. This will be more challenging in the high school grades where most classes are electives.

School Divisions and individual schools will be releasing their detailed plans in mid-August. This local flexibility is important because the coordination of schools can be quite different. A high school that has 50 students will be vastly different than a high school that has 1500 students.

While many parents were glad to hear that their students would be returning to school, it has naturally caused concern among others who are worried about the transmission of COVID-19 in schools. It is important to remember that these decisions are made with the approval of public health officials who are working to reduce the spread of COVID-19. They have weighed and balanced concerns and agree that it is important for children to be in school for many reasons, including mental health and development. Every level of activity during a pandemic has some degree of risk but there is more to health than simply COVID-19. In looking to find the right balance, health officials measure all these factors and support returning students to school with health precautions in place.

Of course, these measures can change as the health environment changes in Manitoba. Any new precautions would be communicated to parents and staff. While we know that this continues to be a time of uncertainty, we look forward to welcoming students back to school in the fall.