Students across Alberta will return to class for 2020/12 school in September. In-class learning with enhanced health and safety measures.

Grade 4 to 12 students and all staff must wear masks where physical distancing cannot maintained, including on school buses and shared areas such as hallways. Some school jurisdictions may have additional mask use practises that go beyond the government’s requirements.

• Masks are not required while student are seated in the classroom during instruction if following the physical distancing guidance for schools
• Masks are required in the classroom when close contact between students, or student and staff, is occurring. Masks should be used for the duration of this activity.
• Exceptions will be made for students and staff who are unable to wear a mask due to medical or other needs.
• Mask use for kindergarten to grade 3 students is optional
• All students and staff will get 2 reusable masks. Government will distribute more than 1.6 million masks to 740.000 students and 90.000 staff.
• School staff will get one reusable face shield to use in schools at their discretion. A mask must still be worn while wearing a face shield.

• Enhance cleaning and disinfecting practises
• Clean all area of the school daily
• Clean washroom and high- touch surface multiple times a day
• Regularly schedule deep cleaning when students are not present 

• Routinely screen all staff and students
• Create a strict stay-at-home policy for any students or staff with symptoms of COVID-19
• Set hand hygiene expectations when entering and exiting the school and classrooms, before and after eating
• Regularly remind students and staff of respiratory etiquette:
  • cover coughs and sneezes
  • avoid touching your face
  • dispose of used tissues promptly
  • practice hand hygiene

• Practice physical distancing when possible.
• Emphasize other hygiene practices in classrooms, buses and during activities when physical distancing may not be possible.
• Reorganize rooms to allow for more physical space.
• Create cohorts of students by class where possible.
• Guide foot traffic flow through entrances and hallways by using markers on the floor or pylons/barriers.
• Avoid large gatherings like assemblies.

• Create a “no sharing policy”- all students should have their own supplies.
• Clean equipment between uses if students or staff share anything

• Mandatory masks for grade 4 to 12 students, and drivers
• Increase cleaning and disinfection of high touch surfaces
• Maintain a protective zone for the driver
• Assign students to seats that are grouped with other household members
• Use loading and unloading procedures that support physical distancing of 2 metres between students when possible

Parents, students and school staff must review the self- screening questionnaire each day before going to a school building. Visitors must also use this questionnaire to determine if they may enter a school.