BLSD Letter to Families
October 4, 2021
To our BLSD Community,
As announced Friday, the COVID-19 response level on the province’s Pandemic Response System is being raised to restricted (orange) from caution (yellow) to reflect the increased severity of the risk. View provincial news release. A detailed listing of changes is included in the published media backgrounder.
The Chief Provincial Health Officer, Dr. Brent Roussin, has indicated that the move to the restricted (orange) level will not affect schools. Schools will remain at the caution (yellow) level at this time to ensure youth can remain in school as much as possible. At this time, public health officials continue to recommend a school-specific approach when risk is identified.
There has also been an update to the public health measures in schools. Specifically, the province has updated the criteria for when and where masks can be removed while in school:
Masks may be removed indoors where there is physical distancing of 2 metres (6 feet) for the purpose of eating, drinking, and for short, infrequent mask breaks. Masks can be removed when outside.
Masks are to be worn at all other times, including in the classroom and while riding the bus. These updated mask requirements are being implemented as an additional layer of protection and proactive measure, in an attempt, to keep our schools operating in caution (yellow) and hopefully prevent a move to restricted (orange) in the future. These changes will affect some classes and not others based on what distancing was already in place. Your child(ren)s teacher will provide specific details in class.
Schools are also being asked to follow the indoor gathering size limits for when students are pulled together outside of their regular class. As such, assemblies will be paused. Staff have also been advised to limit group work at this time.
Public health will continue to monitor closely and will adjust guidance or requirements by public health orders as needed, which may include additional requirements for certain schools, communities, and regions. The requirements for mask use or other public health measures may change based on a number of factors, such as case numbers, data on severe outcomes, test positivity rates, health system capacity, the extent of community transmission, and vaccine uptake. Any changes will be determined by public health officials and communicated to school leaders and our broader community.
Sincerely,
Krista Curry
Krista Curry
Superintendent & CEO
Border Land School Division