Some high school students will attend classes part-time next year, while others will attend school in different buildings to enable safe spacing.

“Our goal is to return as many students as possible to class in the Yukon, in their schools, while following all health and safety guidelines,”Education Minister Tracy-Anne McPhee said Thursday afternoon.

McPhee announced plans for the 2020-21 school year during a media briefing. 

Most Yukon students will return to their regular classrooms, full-time.

In rural schools, all students from kindergarten to Grade 12 will return to schools with a normal schedule. 

In Whitehorse, kindergarten to Grade 9 students will also return to full-time instruction.

Grades 10-12 students in Whitehorse will attend half-day instruction, with the other half-day taking place remotely.

“This arrangement for Grades 10-12 students will be monitored and assessed throughout the first semester,” McPhee said.

Moving Grades 10-12 students to a half-day will ensure that all students have time and support from teachers while limiting crowding in schools, McPhee said. 

Resource programs will be available full-time for students with disabilities and in transition programs.

Students will take the same number of classes that are normally required. There is some flexibility with the remote learning plan, McPhee said. 

“If there are learning issues that require more attention and that set-up won’t be the best learning opportunity for students, they will be able to be in the school full-time and have the support necessary through study halls or additional work,” McPhee said.

Grade 8 classes in Whitehorse will be relocated to enable safe spacing. Classes from F.H. Collins Secondary will be moved to the Wood Street Centre, affecting 135 students.

Wood Street Centre programs will be moved to Porter Creek Secondary.

These are the only groups that are expected to be moved, according to the Education department.

“This was not an easy decision to make, but we made it to ensure in-class learning will be made available to all students,” McPhee said.

School bus services will also be adapted, with fewer students riding each bus. Families who are able to walk, bike or drive to school are encouraged to do so.

Students will be prioritized for bus services according to their eligibility. A detailed operational plan for school buses will be available later this month.

The deadline to sign up for school bus service was June 19, but families can still reach out to sign up their children, McPhee said.

Each school will work from a different operational plan, which will be shared with parents by school principals before the beginning of the school year.

Technology will continue to play a large role in learning whether students are inside or outside the classroom, McPhee said.

The blended learning module will combine face-to-face learning with student-led learning using digital tools. 

The Education department has approximately 5,000 mobile devices that will be redistributed to students in need to complete the technology learning requirements, McPhee said.

There are also plans for virtual study halls to support students without Internet access at home.

Dr. Brendan Hanley, the chief medical officer, said Thursday that the risks associated with keeping children out of school are greater than the risk of COVID-19.

Closing schools was necessary at the beginning of the pandemic during “uncertain times,” Hanley said. Now, returning students to schools is critical.

“Kids at risk of experiencing violence at home have not been monitored as they normally would be at school,” Hanley said.

“Keeping children out of the schools for too long can result in long-lasting emotional and mental health effects … many children have been living in isolation, cut off from the essential supports critical to their well-being.”

Hanley said that different plans for different age groups was an important aspect of planning for the upcoming school year.

“I think we can assure parents that together we’ve created the best and safest plan possible,” he said.

Hanley explained that the risk of COVID-19 for children is mild, and they are infrequent carriers of the disease.

Masks will not be required for students nor teachers.

He said his office is constantly evaluating and re-evaluating the criteria for closing schools again, but noted the Yukon would need to see “significant” negative impact of students and teachers meeting face-to-face.

While there is a higher risk of COVID-19 importation since the borders opened on July 1, the Yukon is in a good position to remain in containment mode.

Hanley said that watching other jurisdictions reopen schools has been encouraging. If an outbreak does occur in a school, he added, the Yukon is poised to handle it.

“It’s all been reassuring, so as we maintain our capacity to test and our capacity to contact trace, we also remain in a good position to handle outbreaks in any setting, including in schools,” Hanley said.