The Saskatchewan Teachers’ Federation is applauding the Regina Public School Division’s decision to pause in-person classes until mid-January.

STF President Patrick Maze says this is a smart move.

“It’s proactive, and it will hopefully allow things to cool down a little bit as numbers seem to continuously increase in our communities and in our schools,” Maze said. “This will allow for a more orderly transition to online learning.”

STF President Patrick Maze says this situation could have been a lot worse for parents.

“Reality is those same people could have less time than they’re getting currently to make arrangements to try to make arrangements, to try to find ways to make this work if COVID-19 hits their child’s school at anytime.”

With 39 out of a possible 57 public schools in Regina affected by COVID-19 during the first half of the school year, many times parents were given as little as 12 hours notice of their school or classroom closing due to COVID-19.

Maze says scheduling wise, this makes a lot of sense when it comes to keeping COVID-19 out of the classrooms.

“The good news is having a pause after Christmas allows everybody to self-monitor and know if they’re experiencing symptoms, and if they are to get tested and self-isolate,” Maze said. “It should do a lot to keep our schools safe on the other side of the Christmas break.”

Maze says he believes other school divisions could be making similar announcements later this week.