Northern Lights School Division serves northern Saskatchewan. (Derek Cornet/larongeNOW Staff)

By Derek Cornet

northern education

Some NLSD students might not return to class Jan. 18

Jan 7, 2021 | 2:08 PM

It’s a possibility some students won’t be returning to school in northern Saskatchewan when classes resume Jan. 18.

That’s according to Northern Lights School Division Director of Education Jason Young, who said the decision to return to class will be based on the COVID-19 situation in each of the communities the division serves. All schools are currently under level four for mandatory remote learning.

“We cover such a vast area it’s going to depend on sort of where we are seeing the rise in cases,” Young said. “There are some communities where we are seeing a spike of cases and that may play into how we decide whether we extend level four in certain communities, whether we are back at level three when we look a reduced congestion as opposed to going full attendance with level two.”

The largest challenges so far having thousands of students on remote learning has been connectivity and engagement. He said some students don’t have any devices and Internet at home to participate online, leaving teachers to send out paper packages.

Young explained homeroom teachers are the ones currently delivering lessons to students, adding it is different than the classes underway with the division’s online school.

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“A lot of the instruction is being driven by the teachers,” he said. “A lot of the support and follow up work would be done by the students, also by parents and guardians.”

With hundreds of cases of COVID-19 across the North, Young said he’s not surprised by the number because of the time residents had away from their routine during the Christmas break. He said it’s been the division’s plan all along to keep teachers and students safe.

“I think we were anticipating there would be a spike in cases in some communities,” Young said. “We’re seeing some of that, and we hope and pray everyone is going to be OK.”

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derek.cornet@jpbg.ca

Twitter: @saskjourno