Dear Parents/Guardians,
We want to take this opportunity to thank you for continuing to help keep our students and staff safe. By going over the daily health checklist with your child and keeping them home if they are sick, our schools continue to be healthy and safe places. Your diligence in helping to keep our students, staff and community safe is working! This truly is a team effort.
As we continue through this pandemic, we shift and evolve to ensure health and safety. During an announcement this morning by Dr. Bonnie Henry and Education Minister, Jennifer Whiteside, new health and safety guidelines and regulations for schools were released. Read the full release here.
Masks
All middle and secondary students and K-12 staff will now be required to wear non-medical masks in all indoor areas, including when they are with their cohort/learning groups. The only exceptions are when:
- sitting or standing at their seat or workstation in a classroom;
- there is a barrier in place; or
- they are eating or drinking.
Mask use continues to be mandatory on school bus transportation and anytime social distancing cannot be maintained.
Please remember to send a reusable mask with your child to school each day.
Health and safety adjustments will be made for music and PHE classes. Students will be required to wear masks while singing. High intensity physical activities will now be held outdoors as much as possible.
Teachers will go through these updates and changes with your children and we encourage you to do the same at home.
K-12 Health-Checker App
One of the most important factors to keeping schools safe is a daily screening for any COVID-19 symptoms, and having students and staff stay home if sick. This is why daily health checks continue to be required. To support daily screening, a new K-12 health-checker app has been developed for students and families and can be found at: K-12 Health Check (gov.bc.ca)
The app will allow people to answer simple questions every day. It will inform them if they can attend school or if they need to self-isolate and contact 811 to be screened for COVID-19.
Learn More
The BC Centre for Disease Control has a new website with information and resources about health and safety measures in K-12 schools, student and staff safety, and what happens when there is a COVID-19 case in school: www.bccdc.ca/schools
Families and students can find up-to-date information about K-12 schools at: https://www.gov.bc.ca/safeschools
Thank you again for helping with these efforts.
Sincerely,
Scott Stinson
Superintendent of Schools/CEO
Sooke School District