Saskatoon school boards mandating masks in high schools

All students in Saskatoon schools will be wearing masks starting Tuesday.

Greater Saskatoon Catholic Schools and Saskatoon Public Schools both announced Friday that masks will be mandatory indoors at their high schools.

Previously, masks were required only in elementary schools in the city.

In a release, the public school division said COVID-19 cases had risen significantly since it released its original back-to-school plan Aug. 23, and that prompted the addition of the mask mandate Friday.

Students, staff members and visitors now will have to wear face coverings inside high schools and division buildings, including the board office and maintenance shop.

“Our goal in changing these safety protocols is to ensure continued learning in all our schools,” Shane Skjerven, the division’s director of education, said in the release.

“The use of masks has proven to reduce transmission of the virus. If there is a positive case in a school, vaccination and mask usage can significantly reduce the number of close contacts needing to isolate. This means fewer disruptions to learning.”

The division’s release added that if students or families don’t agree with the mask requirement, the Online Learning Centre is accepting registrations through Tuesday.

Greater Saskatoon Catholic Schools said masks — which it noted previously had only been “strongly recommended” in its high schools — would be mandatory indoors for all students, staff and visitors.

“Our goal is to maintain in-person learning and keep students with us in classes,” the division said in a media release. “We want students and staff to be safe in our school communities.

“While vaccinations have proven to be the most effective layer of protection against COVID-19, other layers of protection, including mask use, are required to help prevent the spread of COVID-19 in our schools.”

Regina’s two largest school divisions instituted a masking policy for their high schools earlier Friday.