The province is attempting to return students to school next month “as close to normal as possible, with additional health measures and precautions.”

The back-to-school plan released Tuesday said parents and care givers will be asked to self-screen for COVID-19 symptoms and stay home if needed.

Schools will have a self-quarantine area for children feeling ill, until the child can be safely picked up.

The Education Ministry has not developed a universal plan for all 27 school divisions, rather the school divisions have their own plans, in consultation with health and education officials.

For transportation, buses will be sanitized and students will have assigned seating. Parents are encouraged to drive their children to school.

While at school students will go through dedicated entrance and exit doors based, have staggered recess, lunch, and other class transition times to allow for additional space and controlled flow of students and staff in common school areas, incorporating the use of directional signage and floor markings.

Classrooms will be reconfigured to minimize contact, while hugging and high-fiving will be limited.

Alternatives are being developed for immunocompromised students, as school divisions will communicate those details with local schools.

Extra-curricular activities will go ahead, dependent on health guidelines, as too will indoor sports.

The Education Ministry has set out a four-level approach for dealing with COVID-19, which does not include wearing masks at the start of the year.  While the Ministry is buying more masks, wearing them will be at the discretion of the Chief Medical Officer of Health.

Dr. Saqib Shahab said daycares have been successful in managing through the pandemic. He said children present low risk of transmission and that they will be around the same cohort of people for most of the day.

If the threat of the virus is too great, the Ministry is prepared to reduce class sizes and move to mandatory remote learning. School will begin as early as September 1.

(Photo: Payepot School. Piapot First Nation. MBC File.)