(Derek Craddock/paNOW Staff)

By paNOW Staff

BACK TO SCHOOL

‘Excited’: What lies ahead as staff and students in P.A. return to school

Sep 5, 2023 | 1:55 PM

Editor’s Note: This story has since been corrected to include comments from the Prince Albert Catholic School Division,

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Thousands of students are back in the classroom as staff from Prince Albert’s public schools welcome the start of a new year.

The Saskatchewan Rivers Public School Division (SRPSD) said close to 9,000 students are returning to classes this week, though a more detailed number won’t be released for another few weeks.

Regardless, staff are happy for class to be back in session with some taking on new responsibilities for the year. One of those staff members is Neil Finch, the new director of education for the SRPSD.

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When asked by paNOW what he was feeling going into the new school year, Finch said he is excited.

“Excited that students are coming back after having two months off is always a neat feeling at the start of the new school year,” he said.

Finch was named the new director in March following the retirement of Robert Bratvold. He has been with the division since 2013 as the superintendent of schools.

Lorel Trumier, the Director of Education with the Prince Albert Catholic School Division (PACSD) said staff there are also very excited to start the year, adding that registration is already up.

Our numbers are up across the system in all our schools. Certainly, it’s exciting to see that our families and our students are excited about the work that we’re doing.”

Looking forward to the year ahead, Finch said there’s a number of initiatives the division will take on in the coming months and while he couldn’t get into specific details, he said he’s looking forward to what teachers will bring to the classroom this year.

For the PACSD, Trumier said they’ve already launched virtual enhanced and online options for many students as well as high-performance athletics courses and programs.

This is on top of performing arts classes, robotics and a cyber awareness program in their elementary schools.

While the new year does bring excitement for many students and teachers, there are also clouds of uncertainty hovering above. Just a couple of weeks ago, the province introduced a new policy that required parental consent for name and pronoun changes for students under the age of 16. The policies also allow parents to remove their kids from sexual education classes and ban third-party presenters.

There’s also ongoing concern about funding for public education with the Saskatchewan Teachers Federation (STF) recently calling out the Scott Moe government for lack of adequate funding.

The STF launched an ad campaign where they highlighted issues like overcrowded classrooms and budget cuts.

This comes as teachers and the province continue negotiating a new collective agreement.

READ MORE: Teachers accuse government of misleading ad campaign during contract talks

Finch said as of this moment, their only concern is making sure students have the best start to the school year possible.

“We’re really focused on those positive pieces and the challenges that will come, we will deal with those as they arise,” he said.

“We’re always just trying to meet the needs of the students first and what we’re going to do is respect the dignity of our students and our families in the process as well,” added Trumier.

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panews@pattisonmedia.com

@princealbertnow