January 14, 2022
Dear Parents and Guardians,
Due to the significant rise in Covid-19 cases in the province, Public Health will no longer be solely responsible for informing the school district of new cases, conducting contact tracing and providing notification letters for close contacts. As a result, there will be changes to how the public school system responds. Most importantly, schools and districts will no longer be sending notification messages home to families when a positive case is identified. However, even though we have had to make adjustments to our usual practise, we are committed to providing continuous communication to keep you safe and informed.
Starting Monday, January 17, if a student or staff member tests positive with a PCR test or POCT (rapid test), they are asked to notify their school principal immediately. The district will then post all notifications we receive to a new Covid-19 Dashboard available on the district website. The dashboard will identify the case exposure site (school or office) and date(s) of known exposure and will be updated Monday – Friday between 4:00 – 5:00 pm.
On this site, you will also find important information on:
- What to do if your school is identified as a Covid-19 exposure site (including Public Health general notification letters to refer to when there is a case at your school)
- How to report a positive Covid-19 test to your school principal
- When your child can come back to school after testing positive
- What to do if your child has new or worsening symptoms
- Covid-19 website links to GNB and the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development
Again, the schools and district will no longer use School Messenger emails, phone messages, and text messages to notify families of new cases. If you would like to be informed of cases that get reported to schools, please use our website for notifications. We encourage you to check it daily, each evening.
Please be advised that at this time, learning from home will continue until January 28, except for students who have been invited to learn in person. These students should continue to come to school daily. Please also note, now that we are in Level 3, all extracurricular activities are cancelled.
We ask that you continue to make yourself aware of and follow all Public Health directives.
Thank you in advance for your support and cooperation as we adapt to the continuous changes we face in this pandemic.
Sincerely,
David McTimoney, Superintendent, ASD-W