Regina 鈥� The NDP opposition has been continually calling on the provincial government, and Minister of Education Gord Wyant, to bring in more strenuous measures for soon-to-be reopening schools with regards to COVID-19. On Aug. 14 they brought forward an example of a Regina business which shut down as a result of such measures, and they鈥檙e wondering why schools aren鈥檛 expected to take similar isolation measures.
Carole Carmen had run a 鈥渂oard game caf茅鈥� in Regina. She wrote an email on Aug. 6 to Wyant, Premier Scott Moe, Minister of Parks, Culture, Sports and Tourism Gene Makowski, and her MLA Trent Wotherspoon, NDP Finance Critic. In it, she pointed out that her business had followed all the restrictions, and did their best to follow guidelines. However, those guidelines, like disinfecting every board game and then quarantining that game for three days, plus the limitations on how many people were allowed in, made her business untenable. It has since shut down.
Carmen then wondered if there restrictions were needed for her business to operate safely, how could schools, with essentially none of the same limitations, be operated in a safe manner?
Speaking to reporters by Zoom on Aug. 14 with Wotherspoon, Carmen said, 鈥淲hen we had to shut down, we completely agreed, keeping everybody safe was a priority.鈥�
She went on about the return to school plan, saying, 鈥淲e had already shut down because there was just no way we could make it work. But suddenly they seem to have abandoned that safe reopening they had for all these businesses, and at great expense to these businesses. Suddenly, it's okay to put 30-plus people in a room with no barriers with no Plexiglas, no nothing in between them. Suddenly kids are treated differently than adults.
鈥淚 noticed in the plan that the adults in the office will have physical barriers, (but) not the kids in the classroom. There are so many of the things that we had to do that suddenly are abandoned and they're not doing for kids and I just don't feel that it is a safe situation to send the kids back into,鈥� she said.
Asked what she would recommend, Carmen replied she was not an expert, 鈥淏ut I think taking the classroom size down,鈥� was one measure, as was physical distancing.
But she didn鈥檛 think kids would follow masking rules, however.
鈥淚 think the leadership needs to be consistent across the board. And by taking one section of the population and giving them different rules from the rest of the population speaks loudly.鈥�
She doesn鈥檛 think there was an overreaction by government in the early days of the pandemic, saying it鈥檚 better to start with high restrictions, and that should apply now to schools.
Asked for specific measures the NDP would recommend, Wotherspoon responded that parents are looking for specifics, too. But principally, reducing class sizes is key, according to Wotherspoon.
鈥淭his is the kind of work that we were calling on the government to get at. For the last number of months, and there's no excuse that we're dealing with this in the final weeks. Ultimately, we need our boards or teachers or education workers, parents, health professionals at the table this government to look at all the options. And that includes delivery options that exist. That includes looking at alternate locations within communities and a full asset inventory being done to look at other options for delivery and working as a table and ultimately the resources need to be there, reducing the class size is critical.
鈥淭his is something we've been stressing long before COVID 19 classrooms were at a breaking point with increased class sizes and cut supports for too long. Clearly as we go into dealing with COVID and the health threat that exists, during this pandemic education should not look normal. It should be safe, and we need to make sure that options are there to ensure that's the case. The government needs to get to the table with their with their partners, today, and with the resources to reduce class sizes. There's a range of things that can be done to ensure classes are able to be reduced.鈥�
Asked where the funding for this should come from, Wotherspoon said the province is in debt and hasn鈥檛 balanced the books during the best days. He noted, 鈥淩ight now, we're dealing with a deficit in this fiscal year. That's the reality we're facing, as a result of a historic pandemic and health risk for Saskatchewan people. So right now, we need to step up and ensure those dollars for Saskatchewan schools, make sure our students are safe. And it's not a time to shortchange education, It's a time to step up and protect lives and protect livelihoods.鈥�
Earlier, he lambasted Wyant for noting on a radio talk show the previous day that there was a $200 contingency fund that school divisions had not applied for. Wotherspoon said Wyant wasn鈥檛 being honest with Saskatchewan people.
NDP Leader Ryan Meili had said on Aug. 13, 鈥淎t no point have the Minister or the Premier indicated that more funding would be made available for schools in September. In fact they have been clear that divisions are to use 鈥榮avings鈥� from the spring. Gord Wyant needs to be honest: the government has not come forward with new funding to deal with Covid-19, hobbling divisions鈥� ability to plan for a safe school reopening.鈥�
