This week, with the current COVID-19 enhanced restrictions still in place , all students from Kindergarten to Grade 12 enrolled in area school divisions have been continuing to learn from home.
The scenario may change next week, when the results of the enhanced restrictions will be reviewed — but as of Thursday, provincial officials had not told area school boards any new details.
The plan is to have all students in virtual classrooms until January 11.
If transmission numbers have slowed, provincial officials will again open up in-person learning in Alberta schools. They could also continue the online learning scenario if progress on the virus spread hasn’t happened. The issue has left regional school board members planning for either scenario, and continuing to help families who may be struggling with the changes.
Officials with regional school divisions across the Lakeland have realized the challenges the scenario has placed on many families and households, and continue to offer support to those who are struggling.
Nicole Garner, the communications officer for Northern Lights Public Schools (NLPS), says that there are two main obstacles making it difficult for some families when it comes to online schooling; supervision time and technology.
“We still continue to have connectivity issues in our communities, and particularly for families who have more than one child trying to learn online at the same time,” said Garner, explaining that internet connectivity, bandwidth issues and service coverage is a tricky obstacle to navigate in many of the more rural areas across the division. “That’s been very challenging for families both in terms of families who just can’t get any form of internet at the location that they’re at, to families that actually have the best internet package they can get in whatever particular community they are in, and it’s still not able to keep up with the demand of having a couple of kids online and maybe parents working from home at the same time.”
Another technology challenge is having enough devices for every child in the household so no one falls behind on the curriculum. Ways in which NLPS has tried to combat this is by loaning out Chromebooks to families and allowing for parents to purchase them as well. School officials at NLPS have also changed the school day schedules up for the younger grades so they don’t overlap with the schedules of older students to help with families not having enough devices.
“When we structured it for this week in particular, knowing that we were going to have K to Grade [RM10] 6 students on as well as seven to nine, we did try to stagger the time the younger students were online, and staggered it by grade. So if kids have to share a computer, or if they’re having connectivity issues, that should avoid having them online at the same time,” said Garner.
Family support
Lakeland Catholic School District’s (LCSD) Assistant Superintendent, Pamela Guilbault, says that they have a family outreach worker who has been keeping in contact with parents and students to check in and listen to any concerns they might have. The LCSD family outreach worker has discovered that along with the connectivity issues and troubles with not having enough devices, some parents have also had to make larger sacrifices so their children can get an education.
“We are hearing that parents may have to take time off of work or have to juggle their job with their children’s schooling, a lot of the times one parent will have to go to work while the other one stays home to help with childcare or helping to educate the children if the children are going to be at home for an extended period of time,” said Guilbault.
Officials with both school districts — covering more than three dozen schools across the Lakeland — continue to hear concerns from parents who are having difficulties balancing the commitment of having a child or multiple children learning from home. Both Guilbault and Garner say the health and safety of their extended school families continues to be the top priority during the uncertain times. Both school divisions are offering resources and support to families where possible.
For more information on Lakeland Catholic supports, visit their website at www.lcsd150.ab.ca. For information and support for Northern Lights families, details are on their website at www.nlpsab.ca
*This story will be updated once information is made available from the province and local school divisions about next week's school plans.
