By rdnewsNOW staff

$4 billion to cut class sizes in half

COVID-19 in schools inevitable, cost to reduce class sizes unrealistic: Kenney

Sep 1, 2020 | 2:28 PM

Alberta Premier Jason Kenney says he’s accepted all along that COVID-19 infections in schools are inevitable and that’s no reason to keep classrooms shuttered.

His remarks come after a school in Okotoks, south of Calgary, delayed its planned reopening because a staff member was diagnosed with the novel coronavirus.

At another school in Calgary, the principal, assistant principal and administrative secretary were forced into a 14-day quarantine after someone at the school tested positive.

Kenney says the province’s chief medical health officer, Dr. Deena Hinshaw, did not come up with school safety guidelines arbitrarily but based decisions on the most up-to-date research.

He says Education Minister Adriana LaGrange will announce Wednesday how $260 million in federal money for schools is to be spent.

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He estimates it would cost $4 billion to cut class sizes in half, so calls to do so are actually proposals to keep schools shut.

The Alberta Teachers Association responded by saying reducing class sizes is not an “all or nothing” proposal.

“The premier’s comments artificially inflated the costs of class size reductions, misleading Albertans about the province’s ability to take concrete steps to make schools safer for students, staff and the community,” ATA President Jason Schilling said in a statement. “Teachers and the Association have never advocated for reducing class sizes by half. What we would like to see are more resources and supports provided to school divisions and principals so they have more opportunities to reduce the size of our largest classes, especially at the upper grades.”

Schilling noted that some teachers are already reporting class size assignments in the mid-to-high 30s. He says the science is clear that reducing cohort size and increasing physical distancing are among the most important things that can be done to reduce the spread in schools.

(With file from The Canadian Press)