August 24th, 2020

Dear Parents:

As you know, the first day of school throughout the province is September 8th, 2020. With the start of school approaching, we wanted to provide some information that will make the transition back to school easier for Prairie South students and families. Please review the information below and discuss it with your child(ren).

1. 1. 1. Supplies: Please ensure your child has a filled water bottle, a small personal bottle of hand sanitizer, a reusable mask (grades 4-12 required; grades PreK-3 optional) and their lunch if they will be staying at school over the noon hour. Other supplies will be provided by the school.
      2. Transportation: Students from grades 4-12 require masks when they ride the bus. The bus will have a seating plan so that students know which seats are theirs. The bus will be cleaned after every run, so your child(ren) will always be getting on a freshly cleaned bus. Please do not use the bus unless you are unable to drive your child(ren) to school.
      3. Arrival At and Departure From School: Each school will have procedures in place for what happens as students arrive and leave. In the next couple of weeks, a staff member at your school will call you to talk about how this will work.
      4. Groups of Students Called Cohorts: Elementary students will be staying in their classroom group as much as possible. High school students in larger high schools will have one cohort in the morning and another in the afternoon. When cohorts are mixing in the hallways, grades 4-12 students will require masks.
      5. Lunchtime: If your student can come home for lunch, please make these arrangements. If they can’t, they will eat with their cohort at school. If students are eating at school, they require their own cutlery – disposable or taken home daily. Please talk with your child(ren) about the importance of physical distancing at noon hour. Let’s keep everyone safe out there!
      6. Remote Learning: Our teachers will have a daily classroom Zoom or Google Meet feed that allows students to join their classmates remotely if they are not able to be at school. While this won’t be quite as effective as face-to-face instruction, it will mean that students can learn with their peers and a familiar teacher even when they aren’t at school. Strategies will be in place to ensure student privacy.
      7. Cleaning: We will be doing additional cleaning in every school to ensure that requirements of the Saskatchewan Health Authority are met. In addition to this, teachers will be incorporating procedures in every classroom to ensure that student spaces are clean after and during use. Your child(ren) can expect to be wiping their personal workspace regularly.
      8. Hygiene: Our Medical Health Officers have reinforced good hand hygiene as the most important means of preventing the spread of COVID-19. Each classroom will have a large supply of hygiene products available for students and staff and every teacher will incorporate regular hand hygiene into their classroom routines.
      9. Illness: Students or staff who have any of the following symptoms may not come to school. If they have these symptoms at school, they will be isolated from others and parents/caregivers will need to pick them up immediately. If your child has any of these symptoms because of something different, (allergies, hay fever, etc.) please call Healthline at 811 today to request a COVID-19 test. Once your child has a negative test, please contact the school to let them know that your child has had a negative test and why they were tested (what symptoms they were displaying)– this will prevent your child from being sent home on the first day of school for the same symptoms.
         • Fever
         • Muscle and/or joint aches
         • Fever
         • Fatigue
         • Shortness of Breath
         • Cough
         • Headache
         • Loss of Appetite
         • Runny Nose
         • Nausea/vomiting
         • Loss of sense of taste or smell
         • Sore Throat
         • Nasal Congestion
         • Diarrhea
         • Chills
         • Dizziness
         • Difficulty Breathing
         • Conjunctivitis
      10. Student Emotional Support: As part of the curriculum in every Prairie South classroom, teachers will be leading conversations designed to assist children with the transition back to school. These conversations are designed to identify children who require additional support, and school staff will assist parents to access this support when needed. If you notice your child struggling with the transition, let us know – we can help!

      11. Contact Tracing: When students are in the classroom, they will be assigned seats so that we can track which students are in close contact with others. Non-essential visitors will not be allowed in the school, and we will maintain a log of any essential visitors in each building. In the event that we need it, we will be able to provide immediate information to the Saskatchewan Health Authority for the purposes of contact tracing.

SIMPLE and SAFE

All of our preparations at Prairie South are intended to provide a simple and safe start-up in September. Later this fall, once we have mastered the basics, we will be revisiting our mask protocol, examining extra-curricular opportunities, and thinking about how we can get back to all of the other things that make our schools fun and engaging places to learn and work. Your feedback will be critical to this planning, so be sure to let us know what you’re thinking. While there is some feedback that we’re not ready to implement yet, we read every word and value your perspectives! We’re in this together, we’re #learningtogether and together we’re going to be okay!

Please visit https://youtu.be/uSsauXdyWTY to view a 5 minute clip of Tony talking about return to school. This is a great video to watch with your children as you prepare them to return to school on September 8th. We are excited about having school up and running again, and we can’t wait to see your kids! School staff will be back in schools tomorrow and will be in contact with you in the next few days. Be sure to let them know how we can make the transition easier for your child(ren) and your family.

See you soon,

Director of Education

Robert Bachmann

Chair, Board of Education

August 18th, 2020

In the next few days, Prairie South Schools will be releasing a parent information document that outlines our 5 priorities as students return to school this fall. The number 1 priority on this list is safety, cleaning and hygiene. To ensure this priority is realized there will be staff, parent and student responsibilities identified. All must work together as a team to help preserve the health of each one. If at any point Prairie South feels that the staffing levels are inadequate for us to fulfill our responsibilities, then staffing levels will be adjusted.

One of the unions has chosen to publicize the fact that staffing adjustments will be occurring in light of our new budget for the 20/21 school year. In their information sheet they state that there will be a reduction of facility operators in Moose Jaw. Every Moose Jaw school will continue to have a full-time facility operator (minimum daily cleaning of 8 hours). Larger schools like Peacock Collegiate will receive 51 hours of daily cleaning. There has been a lessening of hours paid, but this does not equal a reduction of the same amount of cleaning time. Previously some facility operators would work a partial shift at one school and then move to a second school to complete their shift. The staff were paid for this time of transition, but obviously the time to put away equipment, travel to a new location and get prepared to start cleaning again did not contribute to actual cleaning. That means the time dedicated to cleaning will only be reduced slightly and not significantly. It also means that we will have fewer staff members travelling between buildings in a year where we will be trying to limit movement of people from one school to the next.

Concerns have been raised that high touch areas will not be able to get the attention they need. Because schools will have less non-academic use (evening sports and other community use) in 2020-2021, facility staff dedicated to support evening use may be partially reallocated to daytime cleaning as this is necessary. Also, staff have had more time than normal through the spring and summer to ensure facilities are fully ready to receive staff and students back.

Please do share with myself and my fellow trustees your concerns and questions. All I ask is that you consider more than one union’s perspective as you reflect on the safety, cleaning and hygiene of Prairie South Schools. I ask this as a parent of 4 Prairie South students, as a community member and as the Chair of the Board of Trustees.

Partnering with you all in the education of our children,

Robert Bachmann

May 15th, 2020
Dear Parents:

We hope this letter finds you and the people in your homes in continued good health. We are writing today to provide information about Prairie South’s Supplemental Learning Phase Three that will begin after the long weekend.

Together, we have made it through the first two phases of our supplemental learning plan. We had very high numbers of students engaged in supplemental learning in March and April, and those numbers are getting smaller now as the weather gets warmer outside. Our programming will be reduced over the next few weeks in order to give students and parents a break and teachers an opportunity to prepare for next year.

Beginning next week, I will be asking teachers not to schedule supplemental learning on Fridays. This will provide long weekends for students and parents and planning time for teachers. Teacher-led supplementary learning will wrap up on June 11th while the supplementary learning activities on Facebook and www.prairiesouth.ca will be available daily from Monday to Thursday until June 26th. Report cards will be available on the MySchoolSask parent portal on June 26th.

As a school division, we are thinking about planning for the fall. At this time we know that we will be back to regular curricular instruction and assessment for all students rather than optional supplemental learning. What we don’t know is whether students and staff will be able to return to school or what restrictions will be in place when they do, and we likely won’t know this clearly until August. In the coming weeks, we will be working with teachers to ensure that no matter what the medical restrictions are, we are able to take care of the learning needs of your children beginning on September 3rd when school begins.

You have been amazing partners over the past several weeks and we admire the support you have provided for your children and for the staff at Prairie South. We are committed to use the learning we have achieved to provide even better service for your children in the fall. There will be bumps in the road, but your children are going to be okay. We can’t wait to see them when it is safe for them to return to school.

Thank you.

Respectfully,

Director of Education

Robert Bachmann

Chair, Board of Education

COVID-19 Update

March 20th, 2020

The COVID-19 Update is a component of the Prairie South Schools Pandemic Plan. Every Prairie South Schools COVID-19 Update will have a date and time included at the top right corner of the first page. The most recent information is the current information. If an update is silent on a particular matter, the previous update can be considered as current direction for that matter.

All schools and facilities in Prairie South are currently closed. If you need to speak to someone at the school division about an urgent matter, please call the main switchboard at (306)694-1200 or email Director of Education Tony Baldwin at baldwin.tony@prairiesouth.ca

The source of truth for COVID-19 information in Saskatchewan is the Saskatchewan Health Authority website at www.saskatchewan.ca/coronavirus.

The following communication has been provided by the Provincial Response Planning Team. Prairie South will be implementing our Supplemental Learning Plan when we are notified that it is safe for our staff to do so.

March 17th, 2020
Dear Parents:

We are writing today to provide an update related to the provincial response to COVID-19 and the plans that are underway in Prairie South. We know there is much uncertainty for families and staff, and wish we had all of the answers to your questions. Our goal continues to be to support your children and your family, and we are committed to providing information as we become aware of it.

On March 16th, the Government of Saskatchewan announced the indefinite suspension of PreK to 12 classes in Saskatchewan beginning March 20th. “Indefinite” may mean that school is finished for the year, or it may mean that when the COVID-19 outbreak stabilizes, we will be able to return to school sometime sooner than next fall. When we have more information from the Ministry of Health, we will let you know.

Today the Ministry of Education announced a pause period for school programming in Saskatchewan from Friday, March 20th to Friday, March 27th inclusive. As a result of this announcement, Prairie South has activated our Business Continuity Plan which will see a stoppage of work throughout the school division with the exception of essential business services.

When the pause is lifted, our teachers will reach out to provide instructional support for our students and resources for parents. In the meantime, remember that an hour of reading followed by a discussion of what was read is an amazing ELA lesson and a batch of cookies with measurements of ingredients makes for yummy math. Being an attentive mom or dad will help your child feel settled during this challenging time. We continue to work actively with the Ministry of Education to plan for continued learning opportunities for students and families and we will have more information for you related to this in the coming days. The Ministry of Education is also working on a plan to ensure the successful completion of grade 12 for students registered in that grade.

Once again, further information will be sent through School Messenger and will be posted on www.prairiesouth.ca as well as our Facebook and Twitter accounts. For information about COVID-19, please visit www.saskatchewan.ca/coronavirus.

Respectfully,

Director of Education

Robert Bachmann

Chair, Board of Education

March 16th, 2020
Dear Parents:

I am writing today to provide an update related to the provincial response to COVID-19 and the related plans that are underway in Prairie South. Our goal is to support your children and your family during this time.

Today the Government of Saskatchewan announced the indefinite suspension of classes for PreK-12 students beginning Friday, March 20th. Grades 8-12 students may remain at school today but are not able to attend beginning tomorrow with the exception of students who are unable to care for themselves independently.

Parents who are able to make immediate arrangements for childcare should do so. All parents will need to make arrangements for childcare by Friday, March 20th as schools will be closed beginning that day. Until Thursday, please notify your school if your child will not be at school.

We are working actively with the Ministry of Education to plan for continued learning opportunities for students and families who wish to access these opportunities and we will have more information for you related to this in the coming days. We are also working on a plan to ensure the successful completion of grade 12 for students registered in that grade.

I recognize that the provincial response to the COVID-19 outbreak will affect families in different ways. While I don’t know how it will affect your family, I am committed to using the resources at Prairie South Schools to support you in the coming days. Please continue to be in contact with your school principal and your child’s teacher; they will be available to support you.

Further information will be sent through SchoolMessenger and will be posted on www.prairiesouth.ca as well as our Facebook and Twitter accounts. For information about COVID-19, please visit www.saskatchewan.ca/coronavirus.

Thank you for your support over the past week and in the coming days.

Respectfully,

Director of Education

COVID-19 Update
March 16th, 2020 11:30 am

The COVID-19 Update is a component of the Prairie South Schools Pandemic Plan. Every Prairie South Schools COVID-19 Update will have a date and time included at the top right corner of the first page. The most recent information is the current information. If an update is silent on a particular matter, the previous update can be considered as current direction for that matter.

The source of truth for COVID-19 information in Saskatchewan is the Saskatchewan Health Authority website at www.saskatchewan.ca/coronavirus.

Section One. Students.

• The Government of Saskatchewan has announced the indefinite suspension of classes for PreK-12 students beginning Friday, March 20th.
• Grades 8-12 students may remain at school today but are not able to attend beginning tomorrow with the exception of students who are unable to care for themselves independently.
• Parents who are able to make arrangements for childcare are to stop sending their children to school immediately. No students will be allowed at school beginning on Friday, March 20th.

Section Two. All School and School Division Staff.

• All staff will continue to report to work as they do regularly up to and including Thursday, March 19th. Direction related to staff attendance after March 19th will follow.
• All information shared yesterday related to self-monitoring, self-isolating, and travel continues to be in effect.

Section Three. Schools.

• Prairie South transportation services will continue as regularly scheduled up to and including Thursday, March 19th.
• We are working on a plan to ensure ongoing learning opportunities for students and families who choose to access them during the time that classes are suspended.

Please follow regular communication processes as we work together to support children and families during the COVID-19 pandemic. Thank you for your work connected to COVID-19.

COVID-19 Update
March 15th, 2020 5:30 pm

The COVID-19 Update is a component of the Prairie South Schools Pandemic Plan. Every Prairie South Schools COVID-19 Update will have a date and time included at the top right corner of the first page. The most recent information is the current information. If an update is silent on a particular matter, the previous update can be considered as current direction for that matter.

The source of truth for COVID-19 information in Saskatchewan is the Saskatchewan Health Authority website at www.saskatchewan.ca/coronavirus.

Section One. Students

• If students have cold or flu-like symptoms, they should stay home from school and their parents should contact Healthline at 811 to receive advice. If they arrive at school with these symptoms, they should be isolated at school and their parents are to be called to pick the student up.
• If a student has been out of Canada and returns to Canada on March 15th or later, they are not to attend school for 14 days after their return.
• If a student has returned to Canada on March 14th or earlier, they should come to school and self-monitor for 14 days. In the event that they develop cold or flu-like symptoms, they should stay home from school and parents should contact Healthline at 811 for advice.

Section Two. All School and School Division Staff.

• If staff have cold or flu-like symptoms, they should stay home from work until the symptoms diminish.
• If a staff member has been or is currently out of Canada and returns to Canada on March 15th or later, they are to self-isolate and not attend work for 14 days after their return. Medical leave can be accessed through the normal process. If the staff member does not have sufficient medical leave in their bank, they should contact Diana Welter for direction.
• If a staff member has returned to Canada on March 14th or earlier, they should come to work and self-monitor for 14 days.
• Until further notice, staff who have out-of-Canada travel scheduled on March 17th or later should cancel travel plans. In the event that the staff member considers travel to be essential, contact with Diana Welter is required prior to travel. Staff who choose to travel outside of Canada on or after March 17th can access vacation leave (if available) or unpaid leave in order to self-isolate for 14 days upon their return.
• Decisions related to leave for staff who are currently outside of Canada and are required to isolate in place (ie: are unable to return to Canada) will be made on a case-by-case basis. Staff members who find themselves in this position should contact Diana Welter.

Section Three. Schools.

• Schools will continue to operate as normal. Students and staff should practice social distancing and frequent hand washing.
• Facilities staff have increased their attention on cleaning high touch surfaces in common areas.
• Some parents will exercise their right to choose that their child(ren) will not attend school even if school is operating normally. Teachers are not expected to prepare extra materials for students not in attendance.
• Full-school assemblies are to be cancelled. Other large groups or gatherings of students from multiple classroom groups are discouraged.
• All Student Led Conferences are postponed. Parents and teachers should continue to communicate as normal to discuss student progress.
• Curricular trips may continue to happen at the discretion of the principal in consultation with the Superintendent of Operations.
• Community use activities in schools are canceled until further notice.
• Decisions about other significant activities including graduation ceremonies will be made in accordance with emerging information from the Saskatchewan Health Authority.

Please follow regular communication processes as we work together to support children and families during the COVID-19 pandemic. Thank you for your work connected to COVID-19.

09 March 2020

Hello Prairie South Parents:
We have been notified by the Saskatchewan Teachers’ Federation today that members of the STF will be imposing a Restriction of Services sanction beginning March 12th, 2020.

The STF have notified school divisions in Saskatchewan that teachers will not be providing any extra-curricular or voluntary service beginning March 12th until further notice. Teachers will be at school 15 minutes prior to the school day and will leave school 15 minutes after the school day. The only exception to this will be that scheduled student led conference times will proceed as planned.

I have directed principals at all Prairie South Schools to cancel all extra-curricular activities effective March 12th. These activities will be cancelled until further notice regardless of whether a teacher is facilitating the activity.

Prairie South busses will be operating as normal during this period of sanctions. For parents of students who do not ride the bus to school, please ensure that your children do not arrive at school earlier than 15 minutes before the beginning of the school day.

This is a challenging time for our staff and the families we serve. I am committed to supporting students, teachers and other staff and families during the period of sanction activity. As additional information is provided to us by the STF, we will make it available at your child’s school, www.prairiesouth.ca and on our Facebook and Twitter accounts.

Respectfully,

Director of Education