What’s Happening on Monday, May 25 in SD84

The BC Ministry of Education has revealed its staged plan for a partial return to in-class instruction for Kindergarten to Grade 12 students: https://www2.gov.bc.ca/assets/gov/education/administration/kindergarten-to-grade-12/safe-caring-orderly/k-12-education-restart-plan.pdf Beginning on June 1, 2020, schools in BC will move from Stage 4 to Stage 3 of the plan.  This means that SD84 will make available all the services that were being offered under Stage 4 as well as:

• The equivalent of two days per week of in-class learning for students in Kindergarten to Grade 5;
• The equivalent of one day per week of in-class learning for students in Grades 6 to 12;
• And remote and online learning for those students whose parents choose to keep them at home.

Please know that in Stage 3 parents will have the option to choose to send their children back to school part-time, or to keep them at home, where online educational opportunities will be provided. Please also know that through consultation with local First Nations, KESS and ZESS will not be moving to Stage 3 at this time. Of course, the exact details of Stage 3 will vary depending on the needs of schools and communities.  You will hear from you school principal sometime in the next week as to exactly what Stage 3 will look like at your local school.  This will include information on when and how you should be bringing your children to school and when and how they will be dismissed. In any case, what will not be different between schools will be the expectations around maintaining health and safety for all:

• Parents will be required to remind their children of the requirement to maintain proper physical distancing, to avoid any contact with other students and staff, to screen their children’s health daily and to keep them home if they exhibit any symptoms of illness.
• Students will be washing their hands multiple times each day and being expected to minimize any physical contact with others as well as practicing proper physical distancing and not sharing food or any other items with others.
• Schools will ensure safe procedures are in place for student drop off and pick up, entering and exiting the building and classrooms, taking part in classes, hand washing and bathroom use.
• Schools will be set up differently to ensure safe distancing wherever possible, barriers where appropriate and will be cleaned more frequently.

During Stage 3, our buildings (including all schools) will remain closed to the general public.  Parents and others should phone the school office to make appointments for connecting with staff as required. Our playgrounds will reopen, but we will be restricting access to our school properties to only our staff and students during the hours of 8 am – 4 pm, Monday – Friday for the month of June, to ensure safety.  Members of the general public are welcome to use the school fields and playgrounds outside of these hours for healthy physical activities, subject to maintaining physical distancing and adherence to the normal rules in place for school properties. Thank you for your patience and support as the District continues engaging your children in learning while maintaining health and safety as our priority. Lawrence Tarasoff Superintendent and Secretary-Treasurer