The Minister of Education sent the following message for all families on November 24, 2022.
View the letter in English or French.
The following message was sent to families on November 14.
Winter has definitely arrived, and with it, an increase in respiratory illnesses and a higher-than-normal absentee rate in most of our schools.
Thank you to all our families for your continued support in reporting absenteeism and ensuring students remain at home while unwell. We understand this is an added burden to our families however it is an effective way of protecting our school communities from illness.
As we have done throughout the past three years, we will continue to take our guidance in managing health-related risks from Alberta Health Services (AHS). The AHS guidelines state that students who are ill with respiratory symptoms should remain away from school until their symptoms have improved and they have been free of fever for 24 hours without the use of fever-reducing medication, and they feel well enough to resume normal activities. If your child tests positive for COVID-19 additional information on isolation recommendations can be found on the AHS website. While we know how stressful and disruptive illness is for families, we truly appreciate parents’ cooperation in keeping their sick children at home.
Please note that this increase in illness is also affecting our bus contractors. With a country-wide driver shortage already affecting our bus routes, when a bus driver becomes sick, our contractors’ only option may be to double up routes, which can result in significant delays. Please ensure you have a backup plan in place for getting your child to and from school, and that your child knows what to do if the bus doesn’t arrive on time. This is especially important now that the colder weather is settling in.
We will continue to take steps to help protect our students and staff. This includes:
- maintaining cleaning and sanitizing measures, such as hand sanitizing stations, cleaning high-touch surfaces, and using Merv 13 air filters where possible;
- supplying disposable masks for students and staff who request them; and
- following AHS guidelines regarding COVID and other respiratory illnesses.
We will continue to monitor the situation and take any appropriate additional steps as required. We know that, working together with families, we will all do what we can to keep our schools safe and our students healthy.
What we’re doing
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Cleaning and sanitizing measures remain in place, such as hand sanitizing stations, cleaning protocols including high-touch surfaces, and the use of Merv 13 air filters where possible. |
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Disposable masks are available in all of our schools for anyone who requests one. |
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We have a limited supply of rapid tests in every school, available upon parent request. |
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We’ll follow Alberta Health Services and Alberta Education guidelines regarding COVID. If more than 10% of a class or school reports illness, we will report it to AHS who will then advise on any further steps, and we will notify affected families. |
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How you can help
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Please let your school know if there is a confirmed case of COVID in your family.
- Please keep sick children at home, following AHS guidelines if they test positive for COVID (the current recommendation is to stay home at least five days after testing positive or until symptoms have improved).
We will continue to monitor the COVID situation and take any appropriate additional steps as required. We know that, working together with families, we will all do what we can to keep our schools safe and our students healthy.
For more information:
Alberta Health Services