ST. PAUL/SADDLE LAKE - The St. Paul (Saddle Lake and surrounding St. Paul County) region is showing 92 active cases of COVID-19, as of Wednesday afternoon, according to the Government of Alberta's map.
The region has seen 304 total cases, which means 212 people have recovered from the virus, according to the map - when set to the local geographic region.
As of a Nov. 30 update released by Saddle Lake Cree Nation, the First Nations community has seen a drop in active cases recently, with just 17 active cases being reported, and 171 recovered. One person remains in hospital, as of the Monday update.
Schools juggle challenges
This week, three St. Paul schools have reported cases of COVID-19 connected to the schools. The first was at St. Paul Elementary, which serves students from kindergarten to Grade 5, and the second was St. Paul Regional High School, which serves Grade 10 to 12. Both cases were announced on Dec. 1.
A third case of a student at Glen Avon School was then announced on Dec. 2.
Since Monday, students in Grades 7 to 12 have been doing online learning - which is proving to be a challenge for some families. Most students from kindergarten to Grade 6 continue to attend regular classes.
On Wednesday, St. Paul Education Regional Division Superintendent Glen Brodziak posted a public message, responding to concerns being heard about at-home learning for the older students. Issues such as workload, screen time, and Internet connectivity are just some of the concerns that have been noted.
"Today, I had a meeting with our school administrators to discuss these very issues. When we moved to at-home learning, our goal was to provide every subject in live time and then allow our students and parents the flexibility to determine limits," said Brodziak, in his message.
The superintendent is encouraging parents and guardians to reach out to school administration with specific concerns, and work toward avoiding unnecessary stress - both academically and emotionally.
Parents do have the option to opt children out of non-core subjects, for example.
However, "it is not possible to completely opt out of learning over the upcoming weeks without serious impacts to your child’s grades and overall education. Teachers in many courses will continue to assign work that will be graded," according to information from St. Paul Education.
In Saddle Lake, the two-week circuit breaker has officially ended, as of Dec. 2. Starting Dec. 3, Saddle Lake Education Authority (SLEA) has decided to continue with Scenario 4 for its schools, which provides a hybrid of remote learning, with online and hardcopy packages for at-home learning.
"This arrangement would continue for the remainder of the school period until the winter break and will be re-visited again before Jan. 11, 2021," reads a letter from SLEA.
SLEA school staff will be working on a rotation schedule to prepare students for at-home learning.
There is no busing for on or off-reserve students until Jan. 11, according to SLEA.
*Story was updated to reflect a third school with a COVID-19 case in St. Paul
