Expanded Red Alert Level Impacts John Caldwell School

Article Posted: Monday, March 29, 2021

​March 29, 2021

To: Families of John Caldwell School

Due to the active spread of Covid-19, the Red Alert level in Edmundston and surrounding communities will expand as of midnight tonight, March 29, 2021. This expanded area will now include Saint-Léonard, Grand Falls, Drummond, New Denmark and Four Falls along with the previously indicated areas of Edmundston and the upper Madawaska region.

Specific to ASD-W, this change to the Red Alert level, will impact John Caldwell School.

At the Red Alert level, school will remain open and staff and students will be required to follow enhanced Red Level directives as outlined by the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development in the Red Alert Level document. Please see the document attached for full details.

RED ALERT LEVEL DOCUMENT

Important changes in the Red Level are as follows:

  • Students and staff are to stay home if they have even one symptom of COVID-19.
  • School staff are to be actively screened when they report to work each day.
  • Parents are to screen their children each morning prior to sending them to school. 
  • If a positive case of COVID-19 is confirmed, the school will be closed for a minimum of three days to allow for contact tracing, and the school will become a testing site for school staff.
  • Students in Grades K-12 are required to wear a mask on a school bus, even when sitting alone or with a member of the same household.
  • Students in Grades K-8 are required to wear a mask at all times at school, including outside. Exceptions are when students are sitting at a desk working silently or eating. Students will be required to wear a mask during physical education class.
  • Students in grades 9-12 are required to wear a mask at all times at school, including outside. Exceptions are when students are eating. Students will be required to wear a mask during physical education class.
  • School personnel are required to wear a mask at all times at school, including outside. Exceptions are when they are eating or sitting alone in their closed office or classroom.
  • School-age children and those teaching them are expected to bring two clean masks with them each day.
  • Extra-curricular music activities, including theatre, choir and band are not permitted.
  • Interscholastic, extra-curricular and intramural sports are not permitted.

Full details of the community directives for each of the levels, including the Red level, can be found on the government website here:

RECOVERY LEVEL COMPARISONS CHART

As a final note, I encourage all families to be more diligent then ever with wearing masks, hand-washing, and social distancing. These actions can make a major impact on keeping our schools, children, and communities safe.

Thank you,

David McTimoney, Superintendent

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