Two days after Education Minister Adriana LaGrange announced the reopening plans for K-12 schools in the province, Alberta’s Opposition party released its own plan to get students back to school.
On Thursday, the NDP unveiled a 19-page plan online that outlines 15 recommendations.
The focus is on class sizes and staffing, personal protective equipment, busing, mental health, infrastructure and transparency.
The first recommendation asks for class sizes to be capped at 15 students and for the province to ensure enough teachers are hired to make this feasible.
In a Facebook live on Thursday evening, NDP Education Critic Sarah Hoffman acknowledged this would mean a large increase to the education budget.
Hoffman said investing more into the return-to-school program would also help Alberta’s economy.
“I think the best thing you can do for business is to keep a safe education system so that people can keep working,” she said.
The NDP also called for the government to reverse the cuts that saw 20,000 support staff laid off in March.
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Hoffman said the government will need those staff if the 2020-21 school year can go ahead safely.
Some of the other recommendations include:
- limiting parent and visitor admission to schools
- a grant for school boards to help ensure physical distancing on school buses
- working with municipal governments to find public spaces in addition to schools for the use of school authorities
- asking the chief medical officer of health to publicly release her recommendations to the government
UCP government response
In a statement to Global News, a spokesperson for Alberta’s education minister said the NDP has ignored and discredited the medical advice from Dr. Deena Hinshaw.
He said the government is sticking with the plan laid out on Tuesday, but added there could be changes made as the school year approaches.
Watch below: Some Global News videos about the Alberta government’s plan to get students back to school in the fall.
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Alberta education ministers outlines plans to return to school in September -
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Alberta will not have limit on class sizes, leaving physical distancing decisions to school divisions -
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Alberta will not force parents to send their children to schools -
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Dr. Hinshaw provides health details on Alberta’s back-to-school plan -
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Alberta looking at evidence from around the world regarding masks and schools -
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Alberta announces reopening of K-12 schools in September -
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Alberta teachers concerned about returning to school in the fall -
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‘A massive undertaking’: Lethbridge school boards prepare for back to school -
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Calgary parents to watch coronavirus numbers closely as Alberta releases back-to-school plan -
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Alberta minister details safety measures in schools when they reopen in fall -
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Alberta K-12 students to head back to classroom in fall 2020 -
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Alberta government moves forward with ‘near-normal’ return to school in the fall
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