Students will be back in class Monday, January 17th and Cheryl Rushing couldn’t be happier.

Rushing is the Chair of the Southwest Horizon School Division board. She says it’s what everyone wants to see.

A spokesperson from the Premier’s office this week confirmed there are no changes to the current plan to return to in-person learning on Monday, January 17th. Schools went remote this week for all students in Kindergarten to Grade 12 after an extended winter break, with some exceptions.

“We’re so happy to get kids back into the schools. We know students learn best when they’re in a classroom and the staff misses the kids and the kids miss the teachers and their friends so it’s just a positive thing all around” said Cheryl Rushing.

“We do our best to make sure students are safe. We follow the guidelines and we work really hard to make sure our kids feel safe and parents feel safe sending them to school.”

Schools, staff and students have become quite familiar with switching to remote learning.

“Omicron is a concern for us in any type of staffing situation. We have a good supply of substitutes and we try to make sure they stay within their own community as much as possible to prevent any community transmission.”

“Definitely it’s a concern and not just for subs but any of our staff in the division really” said Rushing.