Students at both Charles Spencer High School and Grande Prairie Composite High School will be learning from home starting Monday.
In a message posted to Facebook Friday, school officials say while the absentee rates in staff and students aren’t higher than other schools in the region, rather, the Grande Prairie Public School Division requested this shift to focus resources and support the system’s operations as a whole.
“Students in grades 9-12 are better prepared to participate in online learning and are more independent than different grade levels,” the statement reads.
Grande Prairie Public School Division Board Chair Joan Nellis says they are seeing a lot of schools across the province take this step in order to balance learning and staffing.
“We know this is disruptive, we know it is not ideal, we know this is frustrating,” she says. “Thank you for your continued understanding…especially to our amazing staff and students as they make this switch for 10 days.”
Staff is reminding students that if anything is needed from the facility, including textbooks, or personal items from their locker, they can do so during regular school hours.
Students will return to in-class learning on February 10th.