President of Sask. school boards association stands behind back-to-school plan

The president of the Saskatchewan School Boards Association is confident the province’s schools are ready to welcome back students.

Speaking to Gormley on Friday, Shawn Davidson said he is among the many parents who are eager to send their children back to school.

He said many of the other parents to whom he has talked depend on schools for their children’s mental health needs among others.

“Those types of supports have for many years been delivered in the school and for many cases, through the education system,” Davidson said.

For other parents, he said it’s a matter of needing a return to structure.

“(Kids) have spent way too much time in the last few months in front of the PlayStation and we are ready to get back to school,” he said.

During his appearance on the show, Davidson threw his support behind the provincial government’s approach to reopening schools from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Davidson said the strength of the back-to-school plan lies in its ability to be tailored by individual school boards according to the conditions of their locales.

“We’re certainly hearing the other side of that and this is one of those situations where it’s polarized (and) it’s politicized. It’s a difficult situation, there’s no question,” he said.

On Thursday, the province gave additional details on how a school outbreak would be declared and the protocols should that happen.

Davidson credited that to the collaboration between stakeholders sitting on Saskatchewan’s Education Response Planning Team, which included members like the SSBA, Ministry of Education, Saskatchewan Teachers’ Federation, League of Education Directors and Superintendents, and Saskatchewan Association of School Business Officials.

That group has been in constant contact with health officials, he said.

“In my four years as the president of the SSBA, this has been a very challenging and very difficult situation. But for me myself, it has actually been one of the most rewarding things that I have done,” Davidson said.

“The collaboration of the education partners at those tables has been something that I have not seen previously.”