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Health and safety SD73’s top priority for welcoming students back to school

By Diana Skoglund
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By Diana Skoglund

School District 73 is preparing for school start-up and adopting the latest new provincial health measures to ensure that students and staff will be safe.

“We know how excited students and families are to be back in school, but we understand that parents are also wondering what the pandemic protocols will look like this upcoming school year,” said School Superintendent Dr. Rhonda Nixon. “Our students can look forward to attending in-person and resuming sports, music and other extracurricular activities, while mask requirements and other health and safety measures will remain in place to protect against transmission of COVID.”

“Updated COVID-19 guidelines for K-12 schools were released from the Ministry of Education, as guided by the Ministry of Health,” she said. “Because school districts work from these guidelines and then put district plans together, our plans and guidelines will be updated and communicated to parents, students, and staff.”

“It’s not the complete return to normal that we had hoped for at the end of June,” said Board Chair Rhonda Kershaw. “But the good news for families is that our students are back in class, and they can be confident in the tremendous effort that our staff and administrators will take to ensure that our schools are safe places to learn and work.”

There will be continued emphasis on health measures such as: daily health checks, staying home when sick, hand washing, daily cleaning and disinfecting protocols. SD73 will continue to implement recommendations for ventilation including increased outside air flow routines and putting industry standard filters (MERV 13) in district buildings, and continuing with daytime custodians in larger elementary schools.

“We look forward to welcoming our students and families back to school,” Chair Kershaw said. “We will share more information with them as our District plans are finalized.”

All elementary and secondary classes begin at 10:30 a.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 7, 2021, with the exception of Kindergarten students and Brocklehurst Middle School. Please contact your individual schools for the specifics.

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