On Monday, students will be able to head back to school for one-on-one or small group sessions with their teachers as part of Phase 2 of Manitoba’s reopening plan.
At Winnipeg Mennonite Elementary and Middle Schools, classes will look a bit different with only six desks per class, spaced six feet apart.
“We’re going to offer an opportunity for very small groups of children to come into a number of our classes to meet with their teacher and specialist teachers,” Winnipeg Mennonite Elementary and Middle Schools superintendent and CEO Lawrence Hamm told Global News. “They’re going to come for two-and-a-half hours once every week.”
Stringent safety and sanitary protocols will be in effect. But even with that, some parents aren’t ready to send their kids back to class until the fall.
“It’s a parents’ decision as to whether or not they do come. If someone chooses not to have their children come for the sessions that we have planned, that’s okay,” Hamm said.
“That’s a parent’s decision and we’re not making that for them, but that’s something we want to make available to them if that’s something that they want.”
Hamm says he’s looking forward to hearing students’ voices in the school hallways again.
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“This past week I was reminded of how different our schools have been without children in them, one of our daycares opened up in one of my schools and just hearing the sound of voices of children within the halls of the building once again was a very welcome sound for me,” he said. “I’m looking forward to next week when we have a few more children coming into our buildings again.”
Manitoba teachers voicing concerns over reopening plan
The Manitoba Teachers’ Society has been voicing concerns over Phase 2 of the province’s reopening plan, saying they’re frustrated with the inconsistent interpretation of Phase 2, and the stress it’s putting on educators.
The society is calling for the option to have teachers working remotely whenever possible and have 10 non-contact days for teacher professional learning and administrative duties.
The union also has concerns over the health and safety protocols in place to protect staff and students, and says there is confusion from school division to school division. They want the province should overrule school divisions to ensure equitable treatment.
The society also wants the 2020-21 school year to begin after Labour Day. Currently, the upcoming school year is set to start on Aug. 31 earlier than normal, although that plan isn’t set in stone.
“It is a possibility that classes could start in August, it’s a possibility that classes could start in September,” Manitoba School Boards Association president Alan Campbell said. “If we’ve learned anything in the last three months it’s that things change day-to-day. And like I’ve said many times, this is late May, we’re talking about late August. In the time of this pandemic, that is a long time away.”
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