CHARLOTTETOWN, P.E.I. — One month after P.E.I. Premier Dennis King pledged the coronavirus pandemic would not rob graduating high school students of their prom and graduation ceremony, the Province’s education Minister admitted the end-of-year celebration is “probably not going to happen in the same way that it has in the past.”
In a media briefing on Thursday, Brad Trivers said end-of-year gatherings are planned for the week of June 22. He did not use the word “prom” to describe the events, which may involve a mix of in-person and virtual gatherings. But Trivers said the year-end events would allow students to connect with friends and close out the school year.
The Province’s plan to loosen public health restrictions will allow only gatherings of 15 people indoors or 20 people outdoors after June 12 and requires that physical distancing be maintained.
“It's probably not going to happen in the same way that it has in the past,” Trivers said.
“But we're going to do it in a way that brings closure to the school-year, allows the graduates to have that experience and really lets them say 'we are the class of 2020 and we have our prom and we were able to celebrate the way we intended to.'"
The celebrations had been promised by King on March 31.
"I will not allow COVID-19 to rob you, the class of 2020, of these important celebrations," King said at the time.
Tamara Hubley-Little, Director of English Education, Programs and Services, said the Province is examining what other countries and provinces have been doing to mark the end of the schoolyear.
“Some of that might be in-person and some of that might be virtually. We will be hashing out some of those details starting tomorrow now that we know that school buildings won't be open," Hubley-Little said.
Trivers said the Public Schools Branch would be reaching out to students for ideas on what they would like to see as part of graduation events.
Schools will remain closed for the majority of students for the remainder of the schoolyear. Trivers said the Province would work with graduating students to make sure they have the needed credentials for post-secondary enrolment in the fall.
But Trivers said some schools will re-open for students in need of respite care or with priority needs. He said 100 parents have already enrolled for this service, which will be offered at several schools across P.E.I. These schools are WestIsle High, Souris Regional, Montague High, Colonel Gray High, Morell High, Westwood Primary, Athena Consolidated, Queen Elizabeth Elementary.
Trivers urged parents interested in taking advantage of these respite care programs to call 902-368-4997 or e-mail [email protected].
Home-based learning will continue for the majority of P.E.I.’s 20,000 students over the coming weeks. Trivers said the Province has distributed over 300 Google Chromebook laptops to students in need.
The Province has also ramped up its school lunch program since the beginning of the pandemic. As of Thursday, Trivers said the service, which had originally been launched to serve three families of schools, has been delivering 4,000 meals per week.
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