Masks are being implemented, sort of, in Saskatchewan schools. The province’s Education Minister and Chief Medical Health Officer announced today that while the school divisions will implement specific plans and measures best suited to their locations, the province says school divisions exploring measures in Level 2 of the Safe School Plan could have students in Grades 4 through 12 wear a mask in high traffic areas such as hallways and on buses.

For students in Grades 9 through 12 masks may be required in classrooms where it is not possible to maintain physical distancing or where students are outside of the cohort within their classroom as well as teachers and staff.

Minister of Education Gord Wyant says they have always respected local school divisions, which have all submitted back-to-school-plans, when it comes to decision making. He says school divisions have the best information when it comes to the realities in their classrooms.

“So while we know there are a number of school divisions that have expressed an interest in masking policies, not all have. Although we will continue to have those conversations with those school divisions. And so, we really thought it was important given the diversity of our schools, given the diversity of our school divisions, that school divisions have the opportunity to make those decisions.”

Saskatchewan’s Chief Medical Health Officer says children who are unwell are expected to stay home but that being said, children becoming unwell in school, is nothing new. And depending on the symptoms, even before COVID-19, Public Health officials would be consulted.

Dr. Saqib Shahab explains how they will deal with a positive COVID-19 test in the classroom, “It will depend on when the child became symptomatic, what were the child’s activities in the two days before start of symptoms and if the child was not really in close contact with more than four or five children in the class setting, it may just mean that possibly four or five children who closer to the child will be asked to stay home for a couple of weeks.””

Dr. Shahab says letters would be sent to the rest of the parents to monitor their children for symptoms. Dr. Shahab adds that if parents, teachers and children report there was more mingling in the class it could lead to the suspension of the whole class for two weeks.

The Saskatchewan NDP says the province has provided further guidance but not nearly enough because parents still do not know when and under what conditions mask use will be mandatory.

Saskatchewan’s Chief Medical Health Officer has also directed the following additional measures to be included in all division plans:

teacher and class cohorting, with a focus on cohorting teachers to a limited number of students and keeping students in one cohort as much as possible;

in elementary school settings, students’ cohorts will be the classroom;

in high school settings where cohorting is more complex, school divisions will be encouraged to find creative solutions to move students in cohorts where possible;

front-facing instruction for students, any exceptions will be identified for approval by public health; and

staggered start times, breaks and end times, where possible.

Students are encouraged to bring their own non-medical cloth masks.

Read the full news release here.