School Re-Entry Plan 2021
DCS Re-Entry Plan 2020-2021 (downloadable PDF)
Updated November 26, 2020
Safe Attendance
Safe Attendance focuses on the health of students and staff before and while they are at school. If students or staff are ill, they should remain at home. If students or staff members become ill while at school, schools will ensure that they are properly isolated from the rest of the school until they are able to leave.
Safe Classrooms and Common Areas
Safe Classrooms focuses on the measures to ensure the safe sharing of space in the classroom between students and staff.
These measures include: increased personal sanitation measures and proper hygiene practices; and minimizing contact among students and staff, as much as possible.
Safe Transportation
Safe Transportation focuses on the safe movement of students to and from school. Where possible, the Ministry is encouraging parents to transport their own children to and from school. School divisions are to follow the Re-Open Saskatchewan guidelines: assign seats and a record of this seating plan on school buses; students who live in the same household should be seated together; partitions around drivers can be considered; and, cleaning and sanitation of buses or other vehicles used to transport students is required between each run.
Safe Supports
Safe Supports focuses on the protocols in place to support the learning needs of intensive needs/immune-compromised students, as well as protocols in place to support the mental health of staff and students.
Safe Access
Safe Access focuses on the daily flow of students and staff within the building. Safe access includes school-level considerations such as: dedicated entrances; staggered start times; and, controlled flow of students, staff, guests/visitors in common areas.
Safe Activities
Safe Activities focuses on the protocols and policies governing group activities including: extra-curricular club activities; participation in athletic events/competitions; and, school assemblies.
Safe Facilities
Safe Facilities focuses on the cleaning and sanitation of school buildings. Schools have been asked to increase sanitation measures and continue to promote proper hygiene practices. This includes the availability of hand sanitizer wherever possible and establishing clear protocols for bringing supplementary school materials, such as backpacks and school supplies, in and out of schools. Schools will work to ensure that particular attention is given to the increased cleaning and sanitation of high-touch surfaces.
Safe Alternatives
Safe Alternatives focuses on the contingency plans to ensure the continuation of education in a safe learning environment. There are four levels of education delivery:
- Level 1: Primary and Secondary Educational Guidelines – As close to “normal” as possible, with some additional measures.
- Level 2: will involve mask usage as determined by the Chief Medical Health Officer.
- Level 3: will involve reducing classroom capacity. This may include establishing cohorts and hybrid learning models as considerations.
- Level 4: would take us back to suspending in-class learning, and moving back to a similar model we saw this past spring, with divisions working at the local level to ensure learning continues. In this model, school would continue to be mandatory, albeit remotely.
These levels would be put in place by Saskatchewan’s Chief Medical Officer and we will continue to work closely with him, and his team, on all Safe Saskatchewan planning.