The Ministry of Education has approved SD84’s Stage 2…

The Ministry of Education has approved SD84’s Stage 2 Return to School Plan.
Please see this link for full details:

SD84 Covid-19 safety plan

I welcome you to send any feedback on our Stage 2 Return to School Plan directly to me at 
ltarasoff@viw.sd84.bc.ca.

I understand that you may well have concerns about your child’s unique needs being met safely at their school.  Please be assured that our school principals are fully committed to ensuring a safe return for all staff and students.  Schools offices are now open and your school principal is available to answer your site specific questions and concerns.

Thank you for your patience and support as we work towards welcoming all our students back to our schools and a safe start-up for all in September.

Lawrence Tarasoff

Superintendent and Secretary-Treasurer

Preliminary Plans/Guidelines

The Ministry of Education has now approved SD84’s Stage 2 Return to School Plan.  Please see this link for full details:

SD84 Covid-19 safety plan

The biggest change with the planned Stage 2 reopening, compared to the Stage 3 plan we followed in June, is the focus on creating learning cohorts as opposed to the density targets that we had when we finished last school year:

KESS – Single Learning group (Staff and Students under 60)

ZESS – Single Learning group (Staff and Students under 60)

CMESS – Single Learning group (Staff and Students under 60)

GRSS – Single Learning group (Staff and Students under 120)

TLC – Single Learning group (Staff and Students under 60)

NK – Single Learning group (Staff and Students under 60)

RWES – Two or Three Learning groups (each containing Staff and Students under 60)

Beyond the focus on learning cohorts, each school district site shall:

–  Assign staff to a specific learning group wherever possible and require staff to use a physical barrier, wear a mask, hand wash and/or maintain physical distance when not possible.

–  Limit entry into our school sites to students and staff.  Others may only be admitted on a very limited basis with the Principal’s approval and safety measures in place.

–  Post a Covid-19 Procedures Document/WorkSafeBC plan that is reviewed by the Joint Health and Safety Committee shared publically and reviewed with all staff.  All staff are trained in Covid-19 procedures and must sign off as having received the training.

–  Ensure site procedures include:  Daily self assessment by employees and by parents and caregivers of students for Covid like symptoms, Entering/Leaving the Building, Entering/Leaving a Room in the school, Occupancy limits, Photocopier or Supply Room, Bathrooms, Staffroom and Breaks, Essential Service Workers and Vulnerable student support spaces, Isolation room, Transferring materials in and out of the school, Staff Training, and Cleaning Requirements.

–  Have multiple desktop mounted Acrylic safety screens for teachers and staff that may need to work in close proximity to students.

–  Ensure bus drivers use acrylic face shields and masks.

–  Ensure there are signs in every site reminding people of the necessary safety precautions such as coughing and sneezing into elbows, washing hands frequently for 20 seconds, and maintaining proper social distancing.

–  Ensure proper handwashing techniques signs are posted in all washrooms.

–  Ensure masks are worn by persons assigned to an isolation room, both to the sick person and to the person monitoring them (*masks shall be provided to staff and students as requested).

–  When physical distancing is not possible between members of different learning groups; ensure that adults and students in middle and secondary grades are required to wear masks.

–  Ensure masks will be worn by secondary students on school buses (*no student needs to wear a non-medical mask if they do not tolerate it).

–  Remove or limited the use of frequently touched items that are not easily cleaned

–  Remove or limited the use of shared equipment as much as is practical to do so.

–  Ensure general cleaning and disinfecting of all sites at least once in a 24 hour period.

–  Ensure cleaning and disinfecting of frequently used touched surfaces at least twice in 24 hours, including at least once during regular school/working hours.

I understand that you may well have concerns about your child’s unique needs being met safely at their school.  Please be assured that our school principals are fully committed to ensuring a safe return for all staff and students.  Schools will be reopening their offices on August 31 and your school principal will be available to answer site specific questions and concerns then.

Thank you for your patience and support as we work towards welcoming all our students back to our schools and a safe start-up for all in September.

Lawrence Tarasoff

Superintendent and Secretary-Treasurer

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