The Saskatchewan Teachers' Federation held a press conference today to discuss some of what they thought was the provincial government's failings regarding the return to school after the Christmas break.

This conference took place only a few hours after the government hosted their own which conveyed that there would be no new restrictions brought in and school would resume on the previously scheduled date.

That decision seems to have the STF concerned since they had earlier recommended an extension to the break.

STF President Patrick Maze detailed just what they hoped that would accomplish.

"On December 30th," said Maze, "We called for a two-day delay to the return to school to allow teachers and principals to put additional measures in place before students returned. This brief pause would have provided time to make adjustments to schedules, cohorts, and assess the impact of omicron on staffing."

Besides the delay before the resumption of schooling, the STF also had a few other items they wished to see put through:

  • N95 masks provided for all staff and students 
  • The immediate reinstatement of the Education Sector Response Planning Team
  • Mandatory masks and proof of vaccination for all activities, including extracurricular
  • Cohorting of students in schools where that is not occurring
  • Updated definition of “fully vaccinated” to include booster shots
  • Vaccine eligibility for all students turning 5 this year (born in 2017).

Maze expressed some of his frustration with the province, talking about how their current approach seems analogous to the fourth wave which began in Saskatchewan at the end of Summer.

"We've been hearing since mid-November about how fast, how contagious omicron is and we just sit on our hands here and just pretend that we're an island that won't get infected. It didn't work for the fourth wave," said Maze, "we were a national embarrassment for the fourth wave"

He also referred to it as a backward system, saying that things were moving slowly while comparing Saskatchewan's response to other provinces.

"Being the only province that doesn't have any kind of delays or move to online or something just to kind of slow that spread - on one hand, I hear Dr. Shahb that we need to reduce the surge," said Maze, "On the other hand, I hear that schools need to be open and we're not putting any protective measures in our community to protect our schools, and we're not putting any protective measures in our schools to protect our schools."

Dustin Duncan, the education minister for Saskatchewan, was questioned why they went against this decision during their earlier press conference.

"We certainly heard their call for a two-day pause," said Duncan, "Working with school divisions and administrators who operate the schools across the province didn't feel like a two-day pause to the resumption of school beginning this week would've provided a value or benefit. I think everybody is aware of what we're dealing with and the layered approach that's been put in place by school divisions, by the province, by Dr.Shahab, and his team."