Regina Public Schools changes some close-contact notifications as COVID-19 cases spike
CBC
Mercedes Phillips says going to school during the pandemic has been far from normal, but on Thursday it felt absolutely surreal.
At lunchtime, like many others, the Grade 11 student at Regina's Campbell Collegiate received two emails notifying her that she was a close contact to people who tested positive for COVID-19.
As a precaution, Phillips says, she went to the school's office to pick up a rapid test. When she walked out, the 16-year-old noticed her classmates weren't fixed on eating their sandwiches or socializing but rather swabbing their noses and throats.
"It felt like something from a movie," Phillips remembered thinking as she watched people do rapid tests in hallways and classrooms. "It was crazy. I had never seen anything like it."
As of Friday morning, Regina Public Schools said 104 new COVID-19 cases had been reported since classes resumed on Tuesday.
By Friday afternoon, the principal at Campbell announced a change to the school's notification process for possible COVID-19 exposure. Instead of multiple letters for each close contact, staff would send out a single mass note every day that lists all infected classes so families can check to see whether they're affected.
"Thank you for your assistance, patience and understanding as we navigate the increasing numbers of COVID-19 due to the latest variant," Nancy Buisson wrote in the email to students and their families.
In a statement to CBC News, Regina Public said the notification change is a pilot project and "an attempt to keep families informed, while minimizing duplication of notifications."
Thom Collegiate is also testing it, the school division added.
The Regina Catholic School Division, which listed 79 new cases in its schools between Monday to Thursday, says it might also consider changes to its close-contact notification system. However, at the moment it's sticking with individual letters to students affected.
CBC News received similar responses from Saskatoon's public and Catholic school divisions, which also posted 85 and 88 cases, respectively, as of Friday morning.
Phillips, who's double vaccinated, has since tested negative for COVID-19 and is not experiencing any symptoms.
As per the government's new guidelines, that would mean she's allowed to return to in-class learning. However, she has no plans to go back any time soon.
"[Students] really do want to be in school — we really do — but, at the end of the day, if it's not safe and these situations are happening we can't be in school," she said, adding Campbell's move to a mass note over individual letters is a sign schools are overwhelmed by COVID-19.
P.E.I.'s Public Schools Branch is looking for 50 substitute bus drivers, and it'll be recruiting at three job fairs on Saturday, June 8. The job fairs are located at the Atlantic Superstore in Montague, Royalty Crossing in Charlottetown, and the bus parking lot of Three Oaks Senior High in Summerside. All three run from 9 a.m. until noon. Dave Gillis, the director of transportation and risk management for the Public Schools Branch, said the number of substitute drivers they're hiring isn't unusual. "We are always looking for more. Our drivers tend to have an older demographic," he said.