Next a Particular Board Conference held on Monday, September 6 to critique enhanced wellness restrictions related to COVID-19, Pink Deer Community Schools Board of Trustees despatched a letter to Pink Deer North MLA and Minister of Instruction Adriana LaGrange and Red Deer South MLA Jason Stephan with regards to substantial frustrations on why school boards were being put into the situation of building health conclusions, even more ensuing in division across communities throughout the province.
Under is the letter sent from Nicole Buchanan, Board Chair for Red Deer Community Educational facilities.
Pricey Minister LaGrange & Mr. Stephan,
At a distinctive conference held on Monday, September 6, 2021, the Board of Trustees up-to-date COVID-19 wellbeing guidelines for our educational facilities provided your government’s announcement on Friday, September 3.
While province-huge limitations need mask carrying in all public sites, the updated suggestions reveal universities are not needed to put into action masking, but university boards will proceed to established COVID-19 administration policies as they deem suitable. Universities are really community destinations. We can’t have an understanding of why they were not involved in just constraints for general public places, particularly supplied the increased hazards experiencing those under 12 several years of age. You should share the rationale for this.
Why are college boards generating health and fitness conclusions? As portion of Red Deer Public’s conversations, the Board of Trustees expressed considerable frustrations on why faculty boards have been put into the position of building conclusions of this character and more resulting in division across communities in the province. The Board unanimously handed the following motion to make these considerations acknowledged:
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- MOVED that the Board of Trustees communicates with the Governing administration of Alberta expressing its substantial issues and frustrations on the selection building process imposed on university divisions and the lack of leadership by the federal government relevant to mask use and other COVID-19 overall health limitations within schools, resulting in higher uncertainty and amplified division within our communities and across the province.

Crimson Deer Public Colleges is a intense defender of neighborhood autonomy when it will come to generating education and learning selections that effect the Pink Deer local community. As you know, and regrettably so, community autonomy has been appreciably eroded by provincial governments and we think this has had a adverse impression on community training.
Red Deer Public Educational facilities will do anything it can to make certain community autonomy delivers the greatest decision earning for college students and households in our communities. In this scenario, however, your federal government abdicated what was rightfully within the purview of govt and general public wellness, laying it on the toes of university boards. In doing so, you have further prompted and elevated division and frustrations in communities across Alberta which is having a negative effect on the teaching and studying of college students, who have currently been substantially impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Should really the governing administration wish to determine places exactly where community autonomy is finest held in the palms of regionally elected college boards to superior the education and learning of learners in regional communities, we would welcome the opportunity to influence these variations! We acknowledge the pandemic has been a sizeable problem for all governments and has resulted in demanding choices. We empathize with the placement the governing administration has been in. But it also does require management and creating individuals tricky decisions in areas that are your obligation. Plainly, this was a single of people conclusions greatest remaining with you.
We comprehend these are difficult times, but we are Alberta and with that comes energy. We are a province who rises previously mentioned adversity, faces troubles head on, uniting alongside one another in difficult situations. Sadly, the COVID-19 pandemic has established a divided and hurting province, some of that simply because of conclusions created by the authorities. Leaving well being conclusions to 61 various university divisions, additional established division and chaos.
As heritage has shown, genuine leadership is about bringing persons together below the most tough instances. It is about making choices with men and women, not for people. It requires leadership accomplished with objective and intention. Now much more than at any time, we will need that type of management. We simply call on this governing administration to just take a positive leadership role and assist Alberta proceed to shine as an extremely good location to dwell, do the job, improve and of system, discover.
Sincerely,
Nicole Buchanan
Board Chair
