As part of our COVID-19 risk-mitigating plan, TBPSB will assure that all individuals, including children attending school and child care, staff and teachers, visitors to the school, and any parents or family members,  will be screened each day before entering the school building.  

PROVISIONS AND EQUIPMENT AS PART OF SCREENING 

• Visible signage will remind all parents and visitors to the building of the requirement of screening and where to proceed for screening.  All parents/caregivers are informed of our school’s screening procedures before their child starts in the program.
• Screening will be set up in such a way as to support physical distance between individuals of 2 meters (6 feet). 
• Each screening station will be equipped with:
  • • an alcohol-based hand sanitiser containing at least 60% alcohol content, either placed or supervised in such a way so that it is not accessed by young children. 
    • disinfectant (spray or wipes) that can be used for cleaning
    • thermometer (either infrared or with single-use protective covers that will be discarded after use).
• TBPSB will support appropriate precautions between screeners and those being screened.  This may include the use of personal protective equipment (PPE) in the form of masks and/or face shields, and/or separation through a physical barrier, such as plexiglass.
• Parents are encouraged to observe their children for signs of illness before arrival and are informed that children must not attend the facility if they are ill.

SCREENING FOR SYMPTOMS

• All individuals must self-screen every day before arrival at the school.  Individuals who do not pass the screening are not permitted to attend the school and will be sent back.
• All employees of the school will fill in a weekly attestation before the beginning of each week that they self-screen each morning before attending the school.
• Although temperature checks are not a routine part of morning screening, the screener may use her discretion in requesting a temperature check as part of the morning screening procedure.
• All individuals including children attending child care, staff, caregivers, parents/guardians, and visitors will have their screening done each day before entering the building.
• Each child requires to undergo screening.  Parents are only required to be screened at the morning screening station if they are entering the building.
• After the screening has been conducted, staff will escort young children who have passed the screening to their teachers.
• Parents are considered non-essential visitors at this time and are encouraged not to go past the screening area.  Staff will use their discretion to know when exceptions to this are reasonably required.
• In addition to daily screenings before entering the school, TBPSB teachers will continue to do passive visual health checks for symptoms of COVID-19 throughout the day for the children in their care.

POSITIVE SCREENING RESULTS

• Any individual who has a positive screening result will not be permitted to enter the school and will be advised to visit their family doctor or to a health care centre immediately. They may return after a NEGATIVE result AND the absence of symptoms for 24 hours.
• Any individual or a student who tests positive for COVID-19 will be excluded from the program for 14 days after the onset of symptoms and/or clearance has been received from the local public health unit or the school/family doctor.

TRAINING 

All TBPSB screeners will receive training in becoming a screener.  Training will assure that all screeners feel knowledgeable that they:

• • know the signs and symptoms of COVID-19
  • understand hand hygiene requirements
  • are aware of, and can implement infection prevention and control  policies and procedures
  • know how to put on and take off PPE, and when it is appropriate to use this equipment
  • have reviewed this policy and any revisions hereafter

TBPSB understands the need for increased health and safety protocols to mitigate risk and keep our community safe during this pandemic.  We ask our families to be partners with us in this endeavour by screening their children for signs of illness before arrival at school and keeping children at home when sick.

As part of our COVID-19 response plan, we ask parents and caregivers to stay at home and not send their children to school if any of the mentioned symptoms have occurred within the last 24 hours:

• Fever (temperature of 37.50C or 99.5F or higher)
• New-onset cough
• Worsening chronic cough
• Shortness of breath
• Difficulty breathing 
• Sore throat
• Difficulty or painful swallowing
• Decrease/loss of taste or smell
• Chills
• Non-typical headache
• Unexplained fatigue/malaise/muscle aches (myalgias)
• Nausea/vomiting, diarrhoea, abdominal pain
• New or worsening runny nose or nasal congestion

A typical symptoms can include:

• Delirium (acutely altered mental status and inattention) 
• Unexplained or increased number of falls 
• Pink eye
• Acute functional decline 
• Exacerbation of chronic conditions 
• Croup (inflammation of the larynx and trachea in children, associated with infection and causing breathing difficulties)
• Multisystem inflammatory vasculitis in children 
• May include persistent fever, abdominal pain, conjunctivitis, gastrointestinal symptoms (nausea, vomiting and diarrhoea) and rash

PROTOCOLS TO SUPPORT PHYSICAL DISTANCING DURING PICK UP AND DROP OFF

• A School day begins with a gradual entry to the students in the mornings.
• Screening is a part of the drop off procedure. Caregivers will be helping you to maintain a distance from each other while waiting to be screened and dropping off the child.
• Teachers will be ready to receive children after which point they have been screened.
• Family members who are dropping off late in the morning or picking up early in the day will report to the front office where they will be screened and escorted. Family members who need to enter the building in these cases will be asked to wear a mask.
• Our end of the day pick up will happen outside the building to facilitate optimum physical space.

USE OF MASKS/FACE COVERINGS AT SCHOOL

• Inside our school building, within our common spaces, all adults will be asked to wear a medical mask or cloth face covering.  This includes teachers, administrative staff, essential visitors, and family members, with a reasonable exception for medical conditions.
• Children under the age of two are not recommended to wear masks.  Teachers will not accept masks for children who have not yet turned three years of age.
• Parents of children three and over may allow their child to wear a mask or cloth face covering to the school if they prefer.  In those cases, teachers will offer limited reminders, but will not enforce face coverings beyond that scope.  Teachers will also monitor the hygienic use of face masks and will remove facemasks from the child that have possibly been contaminated and place them in a sealed bag.
• In our daycare, we ask the teachers and caregivers to wear a mask or face covering if they cannot maintain two meters of physical distance within their classes.  In consideration to the safety of our teachers, they will be provided with and have available at all times the use of medical masks and eye protection.
• Reasonable expectations are given to teachers taking ‘mask breaks’ for such activities as eating and drinking, where 2 meters of distance is able to be maintained while inside the classroom. , and if the teacher determines that the use of a mask is having an adverse effect on the development of the child, or when a mask is causing an adverse effect to the health of the educator wearing it.

COHORTING AND STAFFING

Each class at our school is its own cohort.  Care will be taken to limit the mixing of these cohorts.  TBPSB will do it’s best to support teachers remaining in the cohorts to which they are assigned.  Physical distancing is not always possible for the young child in our early childhood program and it is not something that we expect them to adhere to within their cohorts. 

Care will be taken to mitigate risk within cohorts by:

• Keeping childcare staffing assigned to specific cohorts.  Care will be taken to limit as much as is reasonably possible for teachers teaching in multiple classes.
• Supply or replacement staff will be assigned to a specific group and care will be taken, as much as reasonably possible, to limit their interaction with multiple groups of children. 
• Any trainee teachers assigned to the school will be assigned to work in one classroom only.
• Removing toys and objects which cannot easily be cleaned and sanitized between use.
• At certain times, incorporating more individual activities that encourage more space between children.
• Moving our robust circle time activities outdoors.
• Using creative and subtle solutions to redirect the play in such a way as to make more space between children when sustained contact is evident between children.
• Maintaining our small group sizes for snack, lunch, and rest.
• Cleaning and sanitizing toys and dishes, and high touch areas, regularly throughout the day.
• Storing our nap time cots in such a way as not to mix children’s items.
• Minimizing the use of common indoor spaces such as hallways and washrooms that classes share.
• Taking full advantage of our outdoor spaces whenever and wherever possible, taking our activities outside with us.

LARGE GATHERINGS, FESTIVALS, AND WORKING WITH PARENTS 

The school will restrict the use of large groups and large gatherings of parents will not be permitted on campus. For the time being, class parent-teacher meetings and even some of our festivals during this time will be held virtually online. 

VISITORS TO THE SCHOOL

• As part of the TBPSB response plan, we will restrict access to the school building only to those individuals deemed essential. 
• All non-essential visitors are discouraged from visiting our school campus. Individuals deemed to be non-essential visitors will not be permitted to enter the campus.
• Volunteers are considered to be non-essential visitors and are not permitted at this time.
• TBPSB continues to support trainee teachers but will limit their placement experience to just one cohort of children.
• Special needs services are considered essential and those visitors to the school who provide such services may continue to do so during this time.
• Clear signage will direct all visitors who enter the school during the regular business to first report to the office.  There they will:
  • be screened for symptoms of COVID-19 
  • indicate their approximate length of stay and location(s) on campus 
  • leave a record of their name and contact information
• Records of all visitors will be kept on the premises and will be made available upon request by health officers within 24 hours of a confirmed COVID-19 case or outbreak.
• The usage of hand sanitiser and disposable masks will be made available for all visitors to the school.