Both the Fort McMurray Public School Division and the Catholic School District are moving select grades to virtual learning.
Beginning April 19, grades 7 to 12 will be switching to online learning until April 30th.
A joint application for the move was made to the Ministry of Education on Thursday due to the continual increase of COVID-19 numbers and staff and students in isolation.
“We all agree in school is the best place for learning, but the overall COVID-19 numbers in Fort McMurray right now are very worrisome,” said George McGuigan, FMCSD Superintendent.
“There are 10 weeks left in our school year, we implore the entire region to work together to help get our students to the finish line.”
Around 18 per cent of the regions population are either students or staff of the school districts.
“A coordinated approach between both school divisions, for one cycle of isolation, is intended to serve as a necessary circuit breaker for the 10 schools across both divisions who have more than one case,” said Jennifer Turner, FMPSD Superintendent.
“We believe a shift to virtual learning for our grade 7-12 students will most likely give us enough substitute teachers to maintain safe staffing levels at our elementary schools.”
Due to COVID-19 cases, close contact isolation, and parents keeping their children home from school due to concern over the rising case numbers, grade 7 to 12 students at FMPSD schools absentee rate averaged around 47 per cent while the FMCSD schools averaged around 30 to 35 per cent.