Advocating for safe and stable public education during a global pandemic Grassroots organizations play important role in promoting citizen engagement and awareness By Wing Li, Communications Director, and Medeana Moussa, Executive Director of Support Our Students Alberta Alberta’s school re-entry plan On July 21, 2020 Education Minister LaGrange announced that Alberta would return to in-person classes for the 2020/21 school year under Scenario 1 : near-normal conditions.
Wing Li.
Medeana Moussa.
16 Alberta School Counsellor / Spring 2021
But overall, Alberta invested a meager $10 million for COVID-19 back-to-school equipment, earmarked to purchase hand sanitizer and masks for teachers and students. The responsibility to make a safe reopening plan was thrust upon school divisions, without any additional funds to support infrastructure adjustments; increased cleaning staff and supplies; increased teachers to plan for smaller class sizes and prioritize physical distancing. In fact, Alberta schools saw collapsed classes as a result of teacher shortages, which resulted from funding deficits for staff as school authorities already experienced two rounds of cuts, and many had drained their reserves coming into the pandemic. From September to December 2020, it was clear that the ‘plan’ did not address already crowded schools, nor did it provide stable school environments for students. Without adequate supplementary funding, safety measures were downloaded to education staff. The fall 2020 semester saw tens of thousands
of students and staff forced into quarantine, over 600 school outbreaks and, most notably, province-wide collapse of contact tracing . Finally, Premier Kenney closed Grade 7 to 12 schools on November 30 due to high cases in Alberta.
Coalition for Safer School Relaunch In the absence of necessary government leadership and because of the failure to consult or collaborate meaningfully with health advisors, educators and parents, four grassroots organizations – Support Our Students Alberta, Masks4Canada, RAD Educators and Alberta Docs4Patients – joined forces to advocate for a safer and more equitable return to school in January 2021 with this central demand: “Now is the time to invest in standards and protocols that will create lasting safety measures for students and education workers alike.” • Support Our Students Alberta is a nonprofit citizens action group advocating for universally accessible and equitable public education in Alberta. • Masks4Canada is a nation-wide organization of Canadian physicians advocating for masks, face coverings and other vital public health safety measures.
