Active COVID-19 cases identified at three Pembina Hills schools

BARRHEAD/WESTLOCK - More than 150 students and staff at Barrhead Composite High School, R.F. Staples School and Westlock Elementary School are now in isolation after active cases of COVID-19 were identified at the three schools.

Pembina Hills School Division Supt. David Garbutt confirmed Wednesday afternoon that there is one confirmed case of COVID-19 at Barrhead Composite and Westlock Elementary and two confirmed cases at R.F. Staples.

Garbutt said the division is now taking direction from Alberta Health Services (AHS), which has already requested tracing information — sign-in sheets, class lists and so forth — to determine which staff and students must go into isolation.

“We keep track of that information fairly comprehensively,” he said. “They have some notifications that go out to parents. They … direct them to be isolating for whatever duration they determine.”

R.F. Staples has been the most impacted, with 96 students and nine staff currently in isolation.

Barrhead Composite has 39 students and five staff in isolation, while Westlock Elementary has 20 students and seven staff in isolation.

It should be noted that the isolated staff include teachers, substitute teachers, bus drivers and other support staff.

For students who go into isolation, Garbutt said it’s much like being down with the flu for over a week, as their program continues in spite of their absence.

Covering missing teachers is a bit more difficult; the three schools are managing the best they can with substitute teachers and some internal moving around of schedules, he indicated.

“Our principals are right now working on their staffing and just doing some reconfigurations on the fly,” he said.

Garbutt said each site has a different date when staff and students may return from isolation based on when the active case of COVID-19 was identified and the last time that student was at school.

Barrhead Composite’s return date is Oct. 24, while R.F. Staples students may return on Oct. 28.

Finally, students and staff at Westlock Elementary — the last of the three schools identified to have a confirmed case — may return Oct. 29.

Incidentally, according to the provincial map that lists all known active COVID-19 cases within Alberta, there are seven active cases within Westlock County and eight active cases in the County of Barrhead.

Kevin Berger, TownandCountryToday.com