Saskatoon Public Schools and Greater Saskatoon Catholic Schools (GSCS) will require all elementary students and staff to wear masks while indoors to start the 2021-22 school year.
However, masks are only “strongly recommended,” for students, staff and visitors at collegiates and high schools.
Releases on the school boards’ respective websites outlined other measures that will be in place on Sept. 1 when in-class daily learning starts.
They include daily personal screening for students and staff before attending school, and a stay-at-home requirement for anyone who is sick.
For the public system, collegiates are moving to a quarter system to reduce contact.
“Mask usage and other safety measures will help minimize disruptions to learning by reducing transmission and the likelihood of self-isolating,” wrote director of education Shane Skjerven.
“If necessary, additional measures will be put in place to protect students and staff members. This may include mandatory masking for collegiates.”
Skjerven said all curricular and extracurricular activities are resuming, including athletics, performing arts and in-school clubs.
The GSCS said it will reevaluate mask mandates mid-October. Meanwhile, the public school board said it will reevaluate every few weeks to assess whether more or fewer measures are needed.
“It’s going to depend on things like transmission rates, vaccination rates, case counts — all of those different kind of things,” Skjerven said.
“It could change very quickly depending on local circumstance.”
Online learning is being offered for K-12 programming, including French immersion. The Catholic school board is also offering the option for online learning, if students register by Aug. 30.