A call for flexibility is being made by Seine River School Division’s Superintendent.

“The whole theme of the year is going to be flexibility,” says Mike Borgfjord. “Our staff has to be flexible to support each other and we have to be flexible to respond to the system as well.”

Borgfjord says staff had an intense three days of training prior to the start of the school year and that the principals have been preparing for the majority of August.

“They worked on cohort lists and provided that for transportation,” explains Borgfjord, “and working with staff in terms of setting up staggered recess breaks, hand-washing, physical distancing in the classroom, and criteria around shared spaces.”

Borgfjord also mentions the new use of certain technologies such as Office 365 and Teams. “One of the nice things with these resources is you can download it at school, on your site, and you don’t need WIFI when you go home.”

Included in the changes from last year is the additional cleaning that teachers will be asked to adhere to. “We have provided appropriate disinfectant spray and trained our staff on WHMIS so they can use that as well and there can be extra cleaning besides what the custodians do.”

Borgfjord says kindergarten to grade eight classes will only be attending every second day to allow for space and provide an opportunity for students and staff to get used to the new routines.

It is with the high school classes that Borgfjord admits to certain challenges. “With the students taking multiple courses and electives, our plan has our grade 9 and 10 students coming Monday, Wednesday, and Friday with our grade 11 and 12 students on Tuesday and Thursday.”

Borgfjord suggests that the frequency of attendance could change throughout the year based on an individual’s own needs.

“I think the biggest challenge is just being patient and teaching social responsibility,” says Borgflord. “We don’t want everyone to be living in fear.”

According to Borgfjord, this can be done with honesty and mutual respect, and so he urges students to share what their needs are and to offer support to one another.