Fisher River Board of Education School Re-opening Plan

Tansi Parents/Caregivers:

With the decline in COVID-19 cases within our community and in consultation with Health, Board of Education, Chief and Council our schools will be reopening on February 7, 2022 for in-school learning.

Last year in preparation for the new school year the province had released a Guide for Parents, Caregivers and Students. We will be following those guidelines along with the points below when reopening on February 7.

• Masks are mandatory for all students, staff and visitors. Visitors will be limited to parents and caregivers.
• Staff and students are expected to continue to follow the fundamentals of self-screening, hand hygiene, and staying home when sick. Parents/caregivers will be required to continue to screen their children for COVID symptoms before sending them to school. Schools will continue to send symptomatic students’ home. Parents will be contacted to pick up their child.
• We will be implementing Cohorts (small groups) for kindergarten to grade 8 to reduce potential exposure in students. Students will be divided into two groups and will attend school in rotating weeks. In advance of February 7, teachers will be contacting parents/caregivers to confirm if their children will be attending school. Students will be put into their respective groups at that time. Students not attending in a given week will be provided homework packages. If parents/caregiver have questions regarding their child’s homework, contact the teacher. The teacher contact information and available time will be included in the homework packages.
• Rapid test kits will be at CSS for distribution. Staff and Students exhibiting any symptoms are to stay home.
• Students in grade 9 to 12 will attend school full time. This is required in order to meet the provincial credit hour system.
• Sports and extra-curricular activities are allowed to resume and will follow all Public Health and Sport Manitoba requirements.
• School bus transportation will resume. Assigned seating will continue, mask usage on buses will be mandatory and we will also follow current public health recommendations and guidelines. Buses will be cleaned daily. Although our regular busing schedule will resume, reducing the number of students on our buses will help to minimize potential exposure to riders.
• The VJK mature program and Wee Centre will also reopen on the 7th with COVID-19 guidelines in place.
• If the numbers of COVID-19 cases continue to decline in the community and remains at zero for a period of two weeks, schools will return to full-time classes. This will likely happen in early March.

Thank you for your continued patience as we continue to create safe environments and provide education to all our learners. We look forward to having a sense of normalcy for the remainder of the school year.

Ekosi

Wayne McLeod
Director of Education