News Nov. 30 video message from Supt. Jordan Tinney: An update as we enter December

 

As we head into December, Surrey Schools Superintendent Jordan Tinney has shared a new video message. (There are also written transcripts available in multiple languages on our website).

In this message, Tinney talks about the collaborative environmental assessments recently completed at two of our school sites in partnership with Fraser Health. Key recommendations from these assessments include:

• Remain vigilant and continue to follow health and safety protocols during free time, breaks and lunch;
• Avoid congregating in staff rooms and lunch rooms;
• Make sure to stay distant to the best extent possible when moving in hallways or in common areas;
• Do daily health checks;
• Do not go to work or school when you have symptoms;
• Wear masks as required in the guidelines (adults and secondary students) in hallways, common areas, any time you cannot physically distance and you are outside your cohort or learning group;
• Organize student seating plans so they are distanced to the greatest extent possible.

"I believe that there is no one thing that is going to stop or eliminate the spread of the virus in schools," says Tinney. "It is a package, the tiers of protection, cleaning, and personal behaviours that we all need to do to keep our schools safe."

Tinney also acknowledges the number of exposure notices – more than 320 – sent to district sites in the past three months, with a reminder there are 138 educational sites in the district. 81 of these sites have received one or fewer notices, he notes, while 45 schools have never received a single notice.

"There is no doubt we've faced challenging times with multiple notices in many schools and two schools in closure for two weeks. Dr. Bonnie Henry said all along that the risk must be commensurate with the reward," Tinney says. "Over 70,000 children in school ever day is a pretty big reward."

You can also view the latest video at www.surreyschools.ca/covid19, and view written transcripts in English, Punjabi, Arabic and Chinese.