School ready to take on students

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This article was published 04/09/2020 (2066 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Students’ return to class begins Tuesday — a process greatly complicated by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Brandon School Division has been working with Prairie Mountain Health to develop a plan for the event a COVID-19 case comes up at a school, Supt. Marc Casavant said during a tour with media at Betty Gibson School on Thursday alongside principal Blaine Aston.

“I don’t think anyone is of the belief that it’s not going to happen,” Casavant said. “We’re still finalizing those (plan) documents as we speak, but hopefully certainly before the end of the week they’ll be prepared.”

Thursday’s tour provided journalists with a glimpse of what’s in store for local students and staff during the upcoming school year.

The Brandon elementary school has 315 students enrolled for the 2020-21 academic year. The school’s largest class size is currently 23 students.

Almost every room at Betty Gibson School has been adapted in some way to accommodate COVID-19 safety measures. Aston noted that Betty Gibson School is an open-concept building, which created unique challenges for creating pandemic-friendly spaces.

Visitors to the main office at Betty Gibson School are greeted by a wall of Plexiglas and the smiling administrative assistant who sits behind it.

Colourful posters in multiple languages cover the walls, reminding students to wear masks and practise proper physical distancing. Arrows on the hallway floors indicate which direction people should walk. Hand sanitizer and face masks are readily available to those who might need them.

In the school’s library and classrooms, desks and tables have been spaced out to ensure adequate distance between students. Tables designed to seat several students now have physical barriers installed on top to separate student workspaces. Books and other resources are sealed in plastic bags, rather than freely available on shelves or in storage bins.

“Classrooms that you’ve seen today are very appealing and welcoming for students and staff to welcome back to work,” Casavant told media during the tour.

The safety precautions and procedures displayed at Betty Gibson School are consistent with those in all schools across the school division and were developed according to guidelines laid out by Manitoba Education. Although Prairie Mountain Health is currently designated as level orange, the school division has put safety measures in place according to level yellow: caution, as directed by Manitoba Education — the same health measures being followed across the province.

Elementary schools within the school division will follow a cohort model for classes, where students learn alongside the same group of peers the entire day — minimizing the number of people they come into contact with in an attempt to reduce the risk of transmitting COVID-19 to others. Within their cohorts, students will only be required to maintain one metre of distance between one another rather than the two metres advised by public health officials in most other situations.

Masks are required to be worn by all students in grades 4 and above when they can’t maintain at least a two-metre distance from someone outside of their assigned cohort.

Parents of younger students are encouraged to have their children wear masks even though they are not required. Schools will provide masks for students who do not have their own.

Betty Gibson School is staggering the start dates for students in grades 1 to 8 to facilitate adequate social distancing. Students with last names that start with letters A-K will begin on Tuesday, while students with last names between L-Z will start on Wednesday. All students will attend school together starting on Sept. 10.

“I think one of the beauties of what we’ve done as a system is (that) next week we’re staggering our starts,” Casavant said. “Schools have been given the latitude to come up with creative ways to find ways to introduce families back into the school setting.”

Aston said he met with the staff of Betty Gibson School on Tuesday to go over the new policies and procedures for the upcoming year.

See ‘We’re here’ — Page A2

“I think we were able to answer some questions and concerns that they had, so I think we feel like we’re prepared and we’re doing everything possible to keep everyone safe so, as Dr. Casavant said, we’re here to serve kids and to teach kids, so (teachers) are happy to come back and do that as safe(ly) as possible,” Aston said.

Casavant concluded Thursday’s media question period by expressing his gratitude for staff members at schools across the division.

“From a school division perspective, I just want to thank staff, school leaders and all of our staff for the preparations they’ve put into getting the schools ready for the school year. We know that it’s not going to be an easy start, but we’re certainly appreciative of the fact that they’ve come in with the energy that they have.”

» eklatt@brandonsun.com

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