News

Updated: January 7, 2022

Dear Parents/Guardians,

Thank you for your patience and understanding this week as we worked through the delayed return to school.  We are looking forward to seeing your children in classes on Monday, January 10.  Please make sure to do your health check for symptoms before sending your child to school and have them stay home if they are sick.

Schools have re-visited their plans and will be emphasizing health protocols in keeping with the most up to date guidelines.  You may have new entrances, staggered breaks and lunches, and in some high schools there have been adjustments to the timetable.  Please make sure to check school web sites for updates.  

In the coming weeks we do not know what the landscape will look like, but we do foresee considerable changes. Information from Public Health has highlighted that the COVID-19 Omicron Variant transmission and incubation times are now more rapid than previously seen.  We also understand that individual contract tracing, as we have known it, will no longer continue.

Schools have been working to develop contingency plans for potential staff shortages and the District has developed plans to support schools where possible or, if necessary, announce a Functional Closure of a specific school(s) if the lack of available staff does not allow for safe operation of the school(s).

If a Functional Closure Occurs:

• Essential health workers’ children or children with diverse and complex needs may still attend as per usual as long as that can be staffed.
• Schools (staff) are expected to have rolling, flexible 5-day plans that could be easily engaged by students in the event of a closure. 
• Until we have more information, a Functional Closure would be for 5 instructional days from the announcement
  • Schools would shift to a remote or virtual/online delivery with staff checking in on student progress
  • It would be announced as soon as possible the day/evening before

Parent Communication

• The initial communication to parents of a functional school closure will come from the Superintendent.  
• Communication platforms will include district website, school website, MyEd email, and radio broadcast.
• Parents will be directed to school administration for follow up questions 

We will update parents as more or new information becomes available.

The next few months may be quite challenging, and we appreciate your patience as we are going to have to make difficult decisions.  Again, we would like to thank families for all the support you have shown us through this pandemic.  Please help us to keep our school communities safe and open. We appreciate your kindness and understanding. 

Sincerely,

Christy Fennell

Superintendent

Updated: December 30, 2021

Dear Parents and Guardians,

As you heard in the announcement on December 29th, students will return to in-class instruction on Monday, January 10th.  This will give our district additional time to assess the impact of the Omicron variant on our community,  schools, and staff, and to implement enhanced safety plans to support the safe continuation of in-class learning. 

Schools will use this administrative time to understand and assess the impact of the Omicron variant on students, teachers and staff over the holiday break, determine their workforce needs; implement continuity of learning planning; develop communications plans for families in the event of school closures; reach out to students and families; and to consider transportation and meal planning in the event of workforce issues or closures.

During this time, schools will be open for limited numbers of students in particular need in Kindergarten through grade 7, and specifically children of essential health care workers, if you cannot find alternate arrangements.  If you are in need of this service, please send an e-mail to your school principal or call and leave a message at the school.  This will be childcare/supervision, it will not be in-class learning.  

Next week we will send out our enhanced guidelines for returning to school.  They will build on existing protocols already in place to minimize the spread of virus in schools.  Our safety protocols will help keep our schools open as staffing schools in this next wave could prove to be a problem.  I am asking parents to rethink mask exemptions.  We need your help to keep our schools safe and open.  Mask wearing should be most of the people most of the time.  We need your help increasing mask wearing or we are going to see disruptions to our operations for the next few months.  Please help us in our effort to keep everyone as safe as possible.

Our new guidelines coming out next week build on existing protocols that have succeeded in minimizing the spread of the virus in schools such as:

• Encouraging everyone who is eligible, to get fully vaccinated
• Doing daily health checks, and staying home when sick
• Using available space to spread out, and to respect others personal space.
• Wearing masks in accordance with the Provincial Health Officer Order on Face Coverings
• Cleaning hands regularly
• Cleaning and disinfecting all surfaces at least once a day

The delay will also allow more students to be vaccinated – which remains the best protection against severe outcomes from COVID-19.

The safety of students and staff is paramount, so as we have done from the beginning, we will continue to make decisions based on the latest health data and the expert advice of our public health officials.

We will need all of us working together to navigate through the coming weeks, and I know that when we work together and help each other out, we can get through this. 

Sincerely,

Christy Fennell

Superintendent of Schools