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Masking rules for students will vary across Lakeland

Northern Lights Public Schools have additional masking measures, while other Lakeland school districts will follow provincial recommendations.

LAKELAND – This September, requirements for whether Lakeland students will be masking up when they return to in-person learning will be dependent on their school district.  

Following the release of the province’s “Back-to-School Plan” on Aug. 13, which saw the removal of several health and safety protocols, each school district now has the autonomy to implement health measures if it is deemed necessary in their own localized context. 

In the Lakeland, school districts’ response to masking will differ, but all other recommendations and rules by the province will be adhered to.  

Schools from K to 12 that fall under St. Paul Education and Lakeland Catholic School Division (LCSD) will return to school without masks. However, students riding the bus or taking public transportation will be required to have an approved face covering, as per the provincial mandate for all schools in the Alberta. This also includes masking for students busing to athletic events or attending fields trips. 

In a statement, Superintendent at LCSD Pamela Guilbault said, “Although wearing a mask won’t be mandatory in schools, unless riding the school bus or division provided transportation, as per directed by the province, we encourage parents, staff, and students to wear a mask when in our schools.”  

Guilbault added “After a year filled with uncertainty, we are ready to be able to allow our students the chance to take part in some of the recreational activities they enjoy.” 

 Students attending Conseil Scolaire Centre-Est (CSCE) schools will similarly not be required to wear masks, outside of school buses.  

However, CSCE Superintendent Dolorèse Nolette told Lakeland This Week, that masking will be encouraged for students and staff but not mandated. She adds that enhanced cleaning measures put in place last year will also continue into the new school year. 

Additional masking measures for NLPS 

After a lengthy back-and-forth between trustee members during a Northern Lights Public School (NLPS) board meeting on Aug. 25, it was decided that students, staff and visitors will be required to mask up in non-instructional indoor spaces. This includes hallways, boot rooms, and cafeterias when students are not sitting and eating. 

According to the mandate, students and teachers will be able to remove masks once in instructional spaces, such as classrooms, gymnasiums or outdoor spaces.  

Although the decision was not unanimous, factors that were attributed to the decision included the goal to keep staff and students safe, the ongoing provincial mask mandate for buses that will remain until at least Sept. 27, the regional vaccination rate - which remains far below the recommended 70 per cent of eligible individuals who have received at least one dose - and because the AHS North Zone is currently reporting positivity rates of 25 per cent. 

Speaking to the need of extended measures, Trustee Karen Packer said, “Unfortunately, the provincial plan failed to acknowledge and plan for regions or communities with low vaccination rates and it has fallen upon us as the school board to try to keep the communities within our school and in our division safe.” 

Conflicted by having to make the decision, Trustee Michael Topylki said, “If it's the right thing or the wrong thing — I can tell you that — but I want to feel comfortable with myself that we are doing something.” Topylki also noted the health protocols are beginning to retighten in health facilities across the Lakeland. 

For board members opposed to the increased mask measures, they pointed to a lack of clear data and inconsistent messaging from the province.  

“I don't feel comfortable making a decision like this, when I don't have data to base it on,” said Trustee Debra Lozinski, citing the fact that no information or statistics have been released by the province based on last year’s COVID outbreaks, contact tracing and isolation numbers within Alberta schools. 

For Arlene Hrynyk, the board chair for NLPS, the additional masking measures in Northern Lights Public Schools will help address inconsistencies in the provincial plan. 

“While I recognize it's not an easy decision — and we as a society are completely split on what information we have, and our opinions — I still feel a responsibility to our staff and students to do what I believe is the right thing and provide that safety. When the government mandates masks on a school bus, but not off the bus, when they all walk off the bus and they're in that same tight grouping - not to have a mask from a common-sense perspective, in my head, doesn't line up,” Hrynyk stated. 

The board also agreed that limited access to outside user groups will continue and will be reevaluated at the Sept. 29 board meeting, to coincide with the current provincial timeline. 

All Lakeland schools 

Whether students choose to wear a mask or not in a non-mandated space, all school boards in the region have highlighted that it is an individual’s choice and that any bullying around a student's decision to or not to wear a mask will be addressed. 

Other changes that will be in effect this year include schools no longer sharing positive COVID-19 cases to Alberta Health Services, as well schools will not be informed if a student or staff member tests positive.   

Parents are also required to screen their child before they leave for school using the AHS checklist for those under the age of 18. Staff are also required to do the same using the adult checklist.  

Individuals with core symptoms must isolate. Core symptoms outlined by the province include: fever, cough, shortness of breath or difficulty breathing and loss of sense of smell or taste. For adults only, sore throat and runny nose are added to the list. 

In-school vaccine clinics to appear in schools

In partnership with AHS, COVID-19 vaccination clinics will appear in Lakeland Catholic Schools this September and October. The temporary clinics will offer immunization for staff and students in Grades 7 to 12.  

“Immunizations are voluntary,” says LCSD Superintendent Pamela Guilbault, adding that more information will be made available for parents and guardians.  

For any student wanting a COVID-19 vaccine, they will require parental consent to be immunized at an in-school clinic.  




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