Lauren Boothby
EDMONTON JOURNAL
4/27/2021
7-12 could stay home longer
The division is still facing some supply teacher shortages – between 20 to 25 every day across the division – despite Grades 7 to 12 classes going online last Thursday for a two-week “circuit-breaker” amid rising cases, Robertson said Tuesday.
He said the division doesn’t want to move classes online for younger students as that is “incredibly disruptive” to families.
“Right now we’re looking at our (Grades) 7 to 12 experience and whether or not there’s a need to extend that time that our students are online,” he said.
After the meeting Tuesday, Estabrooks told reporters the division had not formally requested the province allow them to keep those students online longer, but she said that move was “absolutely the right decision” to relieve pressure on the K-6 system amid a surge in cases.
But she thinks the last thing parents want is a “COVID coaster” where students go back to class only to be sent home again a short while later.
lboothby@postmedia.com
© Provided by Edmonton Journal Edmonton Public School board chairwoman Trisha Estabrooks.
The Edmonton Public School Board (EPSB) will be asking for a non-confidence vote on the draft K-6 curriculum at a spring meeting of the Alberta School Board Association (ASBA) in June.
Trustees passed a motion 6-2 Tuesday afternoon that, if the resolution is approved and passes at the ASBA meeting, would see the association lobby the government to halt the curriculum pilots and demand a rewrite. It says the draft is rife with errors and plagiarism, is not age-appropriate, and it does not reflect the province’s diversity.
EPSB chairwoman Trisha Estabrooks said the proposed emergent resolution is based on feedback from local parents and families, as well as the curriculum experts and others who criticized the draft publicly.
“The committee felt that, based on feedback, that more than a pause is required,” she said.
“If we believe that this curriculum is not good for kids in Edmonton Public, I believe we need to be strong in what we are asking for.”
The proposed motion also notes the Metis Nation of Alberta and Chiefs of Treaty 6’s call to reject the curriculum as it “perpetuates rather than addresses systemic racism.”
Estabrooks, along with trustees Michael Janz, Shelagh Dunn, Michelle Draper, Bridget Stirling, and Nathan Ip voted in favour of the motion. Trustees Ken Gibson and Sherry Adams opposed.
Prior to the vote, Gibson and Adams said while they heard from parents, teachers and others about flaws – both acknowledged signifiant concerns with portions of it – they didn’t want to make the recommendation before hearing from EPSB’s own curriculum experts.
Both also questioned the board’s right to tell other boards what to do.
Stirling noted all motions reviewed at ASBA are raised by boards individually and their recommendations are not binding, and that the curriculum as it exists needs to be revised not thrown out completely.
Around 40 Alberta school boards have publicly declined to try out the draft curriculum – Wetaskiwin Public Schools, Grande Prairie and District Catholic Schools , and Palliser School Division joined the growing list on Tuesday.
The board’s own curriculum experts will also be reviewing the draft curriculum, Superintendent Darrel Robertson said.
Also during the meeting, trustees also asked staff to look into how the division can offer free menstrual products to students’ school washrooms, including the possibility of having costs covered by a third party.
Trustees passed a motion 6-2 Tuesday afternoon that, if the resolution is approved and passes at the ASBA meeting, would see the association lobby the government to halt the curriculum pilots and demand a rewrite. It says the draft is rife with errors and plagiarism, is not age-appropriate, and it does not reflect the province’s diversity.
EPSB chairwoman Trisha Estabrooks said the proposed emergent resolution is based on feedback from local parents and families, as well as the curriculum experts and others who criticized the draft publicly.
“The committee felt that, based on feedback, that more than a pause is required,” she said.
“If we believe that this curriculum is not good for kids in Edmonton Public, I believe we need to be strong in what we are asking for.”
The proposed motion also notes the Metis Nation of Alberta and Chiefs of Treaty 6’s call to reject the curriculum as it “perpetuates rather than addresses systemic racism.”
Estabrooks, along with trustees Michael Janz, Shelagh Dunn, Michelle Draper, Bridget Stirling, and Nathan Ip voted in favour of the motion. Trustees Ken Gibson and Sherry Adams opposed.
Prior to the vote, Gibson and Adams said while they heard from parents, teachers and others about flaws – both acknowledged signifiant concerns with portions of it – they didn’t want to make the recommendation before hearing from EPSB’s own curriculum experts.
Both also questioned the board’s right to tell other boards what to do.
Stirling noted all motions reviewed at ASBA are raised by boards individually and their recommendations are not binding, and that the curriculum as it exists needs to be revised not thrown out completely.
Around 40 Alberta school boards have publicly declined to try out the draft curriculum – Wetaskiwin Public Schools, Grande Prairie and District Catholic Schools , and Palliser School Division joined the growing list on Tuesday.
The board’s own curriculum experts will also be reviewing the draft curriculum, Superintendent Darrel Robertson said.
Also during the meeting, trustees also asked staff to look into how the division can offer free menstrual products to students’ school washrooms, including the possibility of having costs covered by a third party.
7-12 could stay home longer
The division is still facing some supply teacher shortages – between 20 to 25 every day across the division – despite Grades 7 to 12 classes going online last Thursday for a two-week “circuit-breaker” amid rising cases, Robertson said Tuesday.
He said the division doesn’t want to move classes online for younger students as that is “incredibly disruptive” to families.
“Right now we’re looking at our (Grades) 7 to 12 experience and whether or not there’s a need to extend that time that our students are online,” he said.
After the meeting Tuesday, Estabrooks told reporters the division had not formally requested the province allow them to keep those students online longer, but she said that move was “absolutely the right decision” to relieve pressure on the K-6 system amid a surge in cases.
But she thinks the last thing parents want is a “COVID coaster” where students go back to class only to be sent home again a short while later.
lboothby@postmedia.com
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