NDP Education Critic Sarah Hoffman (left) and Calgary-Mountain View MLA Kathleen Ganley (right) speak to Albertans during a Town Hall meeting at Hillhurst Sunnyside Community Association in Calgary Thursday night. (NDP).

By Sheldon Spackman

More Clarity Needed

NDP unveils Alternative Relaunch Plan for Alberta Schools during Calgary town hall

Aug 7, 2020 | 2:26 PM

Roughly 130 people turned out for a physically distanced town hall meeting in Calgary Thursday night to hear different perspectives on the government’s return to school plan.

The town hall, viewed by thousands more online, was hosted by Calgary-Mountain View NDP MLA Kathleen Ganley, who was joined by Education Critic Sarah Hoffman, Alberta Teachers Association Local 38 President Bob Cocking and special education teacher Laura Slaunwhite.

Ganley opened remarks saying the town hall was in response to numerous concerns raised from parents about the current plan for reopening schools.

“I think it was all of you raising your voices and being willing to speak up that ultimately resulted in them (UCP) doing anything at all,” said Ganley. “Even so, I think it’s woefully insufficient. I’m pretty concerned that two masks are not going to last very long.”

With the assistance of volunteers and the public, Hoffman noted the NDP has created a report outlining their plans for a safer return to school.

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“(Our report) has 15 recommendations on what we can do to make schools safer for September,” she explained. “I know it’s doable because we’ve modeled a lot of our recommendations off other jurisdictions around the world who’ve been able to safely reopen.”

“We’ve costed our plan that the government and the premier say is too expensive,” said Hoffman. “It’s a billion dollars and I know a billion dollars is a lot of money but we gave $4.7 billion to very profitable corporations. They had to be making over a half million dollars a year in profits, so it’s not your corner store, they’re big corporations and if they can be a priority, kids can definitely be a priority.”

Bob Cocking, ATA Local 38 President of Calgary Public Teachers, told the audience that safety needs to be priority number one when schools reopen.

“We welcome the government’s provision of masks, hand sanitizer, and thermometers for schools, even though school boards had already made these purchases,” noted Cocking. “But the government still has not addressed the growing issue of class sizes and overcrowding in our classrooms, as well as appropriate social distancing in and around our schools. So let the government know that this isn’t right, there’s still more that needs to happen, and they will make those changes.”

Cocking said many teachers still remain anxious about the conditions under which they’re currently going to be returning.

“The ATA had been having meaningful, collaborative conversations with the current government, up until the end of June,” added Cocking. “Provincial president Jason Schilling has said this is probably an event that has actually brought us together. However, we haven’t heard anything since the end of June.”

“No talks, no collaboration, no asks of us,” continued Cocking. “Even though they keep saying that we’re the professionals, they keep forgetting to talk to us.”

Cocking added that the government has been unable to provide clear direction or specifics on how to safely manage the re-entry of staff and students in September.

“We all expect more and you should expect more,” he concluded.

Special Education teacher Laura Slaunwhite told the audience that public education has been under attack recently.

“Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, education budgets were slashed, teachers were slandered, and our provincial government promoted an us against them economy within the public perception,” said Slaunwhite. “The ATA is not partisan. However, when one party does not support us, we will not stay quiet.”

Slaunwhite claimed teachers are concerned about no new funding to help offset the additional safety measures needed in the return to school plans.

“Then due to ‘emerging evidence’, otherwise known as public pressure, the government announced that they will be providing some hand sanitizer and masks to keep the over 740,000 students, 42,000 teachers, and thousands of additional support staff safe,” added Slaunwhite.

Her two main concerns, however, are safety and what ‘near normal’ learning currently looks like.

“On our government’s own website, it has gathering in cohort restrictions,” said Slaunwhite. “Cohorting as a group of families is at a maximum of 15 people. Cohorting at daycares is now expanded to 30 people, cohorting of sports teams is a maximum of 50 people and limits on indoor gatherings are at 50 people, and the recommendation is you only belong to one cohort.”

“How is any of this possible?” wondered Slaunwhite. “The school re-opening plan is a direct contradiction of their own public health guidelines.”

To view the NDP’s 15 recommendations on a return to school, visit the Alternative Relaunch Plan for Alberta Schools.