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Your Independent Local Newspaper Established in 1918 VOLUME 104: ISSUE 01
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DENNIS TREPANIER IS THE FACE OF PEOPLE’S PARTY.
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 1, 2021
TONYA RATUSHNIAK TO REPRESENT NDP THIS ELECTION.
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What’s Inside
BRSD make masks mandatory for all K to 12 students and staff
Masks will be required on school buses, school hallways, and common areas MOUSH JOHN Editor
When Battle River School Division (BRSD) students and staff return for the new academic year 2021-2022, they will have to mask up on school buses, school hallways, common areas, and when in close contact. “Masks on school buses is part of a provincial order, which mandates the wearing of masks on all forms of public transportation, by people of all ages,” said BRSD Board Chair Karen Belich. “This restriction was originally scheduled to expire in mid-August, so we did not anticipate having masks when school resumed. However, due to rising case numbers, the Chief Medical Officer of Health decreed that restriction
would remain in place until at least Sept. 27.” Belich said they were informed about this on Friday, Aug. 13. When the mandate for masks on buses was extended due to rising case numbers, the Board began to consider if the measures they were planning to follow – such as staying home when sick and hand sanitizing – would be enough to ensure the safety and wellbeing of students, according to Belich. “The Board made a unanimous decision to begin the school year by asking all students in Kindergarten to Grade 12 to wear masks as they enter the school and move through the ‘high traffic areas’, such as hallways and commons areas,” she explained. “When students are in classrooms, masks will
Battle River School Division, Camrose.
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Fraud and assault complaints keep Tofield RCMP busy not be required.” According to her, ‘high traffic areas’ could include any of the following, depending on the number of students. “In the context of a school, a ‘commons area’ is a space in which students gather together, like a lunch room or other area where they can congregate in groups that aren’t just their immediate classmates,” Belich
added. “If there are numbers of students and staff from different classes moving through the hallway at the same time, they should be wearing masks. If there are a number of students from different class groups gathered and they are close together, like six people sitting shoulder to shoulder around a table inside at recess, for example, they
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should be wearing masks.” However, when in classrooms, masks are not needed. “Even when students and staff are in their classrooms and settled in their seats, masks can be removed,”Belich noted. “Masks will not be required outdoors or when participating in physical Continued on Page 19
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Editorial: Excitement about childcare announcement PAGE 6
Sunshine Villa has a new activities coordinator PAGE 9
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