After switching to remote learning on December 14th, both Regina Public and Catholic School divisions return to in-class learning on Monday.

Director of Education for the Regina Catholic School Division , Domenic Scuglia said while COVID-19 case numbers are not as low as they hoped they would be, they know transmission has been low inside schools.

“Listening to Dr. Shahab, yes the case numbers are higher than we wanted them to be, but one of the most important pieces around our decision making process has been the information that we’ve received from the Saskatchewan Heath Authority,” Scuglia said. “And that is that the safest place for our students and staff is inside our schools,” he continued.

Scuglia said elementary schools are returning to level two, which means mandatory masks, high schools will be in level three mode, which means they will be divided into two cohorts, that sees one group attend one day while the other receives online instruction, then vice-versa.

Scuglia says the plan right now is to remain with this return to classroom plan for the foreseeable future.

When it comes to the last month of remote learning, Scuglia said for Regina Catholic students, everything seemed to run as smoothly as possible.

He said the biggest issue was some households inability to provide a device or internet for their child, something the school division provided for students if necessary.

The Regina Public School Division says they want to remind all families that health and safety protocols will continue to be in place. They include: physical distancing, where possible, required mask use, enhanced cleaning protocols, and increased ventilation in all schools.

The school division is confident that temporary online learning contributed to helping keep students and staff safe during and immediately after the holiday break.

Once students return to school on January 11th and recommence their in-class learning, the school division says it will be in a better position to comment further.