South Peace Distributed

May 26, 2020
Dear Families, Students, Staff and Community:
On June 2, 2020, SD 59 is moving into yet another stage of the BC Education Restart Plan.  June 1, 2020 will find our teachers engaged in professional development as published in the 2019/20 school calendar. On June 2, 2020, we will be welcoming more students into our schools and hope their experience will be engaging and filled with positive and fun learning.

We are pleased to announce that we will be opening playgrounds effective June 2, 2020.  We will be posting signage indicating that playgrounds will be reserved for school use only during the school day with information about physical distancing.  It will be noted that no special cleaning of equipment will occur.  Health and safety protocols for use of playgrounds during the school day are included in our updated protocol.

To align with Stage 3 of the BC Education Restart Plan, we have developed new health and safety protocols, again referencing the recommended health and safety protocols for staff and students.  The new protocol will be available at the school and posted on the school district website.  The health and safety of your child and our staff remains our first priority.  Schools will develop and communicate the procedures for students and staff in line with the protocols for safe operation of the school.  There may be signage to help direct traffic and classrooms will be set up to simplify physical distancing recommendations.

Schools have been gathering information about which students will be attending in June and which students will require busing. Students in Kindergarten to Grade 5 will have the option to attend two days per week while students in Grades 6-12 will have the option to attend one day per week.  Schools will be communicating with parents about which days their child will attend and the requirement to assess the health of their child before sending them to school.

As I stated earlier, at-home learning will continue to occur for those students not choosing on-site instruction.  Teachers will be balancing the delivery of instruction for students at home and at school for the month of June.  They will continue to provide work for students at home, however, their contact time with children at home may be reduced.  Teachers will have Wednesdays available to focus on the students who continue to learn from home.
Schools will continue to be closed to the public. If you need to make an appointment to meet with a teacher or principal, please make arrangements ahead of time by contacting the school via e-mail or phone.  Outside drop off and pick up routines will be communicated by each school.

Please address any questions you might have to your school principal.  I always thank you for your patience and I do so again.  The constant change in the past ten weeks have been a challenge for all of us and the uncertainty continues.  We will continue to communicate with you and work through any issues that might arise as we enter into Stage 3 of the Education Restart Plan.

Regards,
Candace Clouthier
Superintendent SD 59 Peace River South

May 15, 2020

Dear Families, Students, Staff and Community: 

I want to provide you with an update to my letter from earlier this week.  You may be aware that Premier Horgan and Education Minister Fleming held a press conference this morning outlining the plan for students to return to school on a part-time basis in June.  The return for students will be a choice for parents.  If you choose to keep your child at home for the remainder of this school year, your child will continue to receive their school program from home.

At the district level, we will begin planning to put in place the recommended health and safety protocols for staff and students.  The health and safety of your child and our staff remains our first priority.

While at this time, we do not have specific details of what the rest of the plan will be for June in SD 59, I and school principals will continue to keep you up to date.  We need to gather information and coordinate the part-time education of your child, addressing numbers in the classroom and school, busing, staffing, and addressing health and safety.  You will be hearing from principals or teachers to ask if you are going to send your child to school on a part-time basis in June.  Following that, we will be communicating with you, the plan and schedule for what the part-time education will be in each school.  At home learning will continue to occur but may look a bit different, as teachers welcome students back into the classroom.

The first day for part-time education in schools will begin on June 2, 2020.  Staff will be engaged in a non-instructional day for June 1, 2020 as published in the 2019/20 school calendar.

Please address any questions you might have to your school principal.  I want to thank teachers, principals and all staff as they work to once again to define a new different way of offering education.  I thank you for your patience as we move into yet another stage of the K-12 Education Restart Plan.

Regards,

Candace Clouthier

Superintendent SD 59 Peace River South