Families to get daily COVID-19 reports from Waterloo Region District School Board
CBC
Starting this week, families with students in the Waterloo Region District School Board will get a daily report from their school's principal about the number of COVID-19 cases reported in school and classes that are affected.
The reports will come through the School-Day platform and will not identify students or staff, according to an update on the board's website. If a family does not receive a report on a given day, that means there were no COVID-19 classes reported at their school.
The decision follows a similar move by the Toronto District School Board, which announced last week it would notify entire school communities about COVID-19 cases — not just affected classrooms.
In January, the Ontario government stopped tracking COVID-19 in schools, but the TDSB continued to send positive case notification letters to affected classrooms.
The Waterloo Catholic District School Board (WCDSB) will not be notifying families about COVID-19 cases, the board's chief managing officer said in an email.
John Shewchuk said the board is following direction of the province's chief medical officer of health, regional public health and the practice of "the majority of boards across the province."
"The board's guiding principle throughout the pandemic has been to follow the expert advice of health officials. School staff are not public health experts," Shewchuk said.
The Upper Grand District School Board maintains a website that tracks absences, but a spokesperson said schools do not notify families about positive COVID-19 cases, because they no longer have reliable access to this information from public health officials.
The update from the Waterloo Region District School Board said it also faces staffing challenges due to the rising number of COVID-19 cases. So far, the board says no schools have had to close due to staffing shortages.
The board says it will track and report any school closures online. Families will also be notified about classroom and school closures through School-Day and through their school's website.
Classroom closures could last up to five days. During this time, students will still be able to learn online.
The board says students and staff are still encouraged to wear masks if they can — and must wear masks in certain situations.
Families must also complete the province's COVID-19 screening tool every day before going to school.
The WCDSB is also experiencing staffing challenges due to COVID-19, Shewchuk said.
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