BARRHEAD/WESTLOCK - Though COVID-19 has not disappeared from the school division, the number of students and staff absences due to the virus has dropped significantly and the severity of such disruptions is considerably lower.
Pembina Hills School Division trustees received a brief update on the COVID-19 situation within the division at their March 16 board meeting.
Mark Thiesen, who retired as assistant superintendent of education services last week, said there were 14 COVID-related absences among students in mid-February.
The beginning of March saw a brief upswing to more than 30, but that number dwindled down to approximately 13 as of that day.
One trend that emerged over the last three weeks is that whenever there is a school with one, two or three absences, it’s generally all students with the same last name, Thiesen indicated.
“Obviously when a family gets it, it’s hitting the whole family,” he said.
Overall, while COVID is still out there and making some kids sick, they are generally staying home when they have symptoms, and that seems to be working out, Thiesen said.
“It’s a pretty good news story, actually,” he added.
Director of human resources Brett Cooper said staff have experienced a similar trend as students, with the number of COVID-related absences steadily decreasing as time went on.
As of March 15, there were only two certificated staff and 1.5 support staff out due to COVID, he said.
It should be stressed that these numbers do not reflect the staff who are dealing with “long COVID,” the symptoms of which can include shortness of breath, muscle aches, loss of smell or taste, fatigue and cognitive dysfunction (I.e. brain fog).
Cooper noted those staff are on medical leave and thus are not counted as COVID-related temporary absences.
Even so, the number of disruptions in schools having to arrange for substitute teachers due to the regular teacher being out with COVID has lessened, Cooper indicated.
“So that’s good,” he said. “We’ve got some gaps that we have to catch up on in regard to teaching and learning for students and having those consistent staff members there is important.”
Cooper asked the board if they wished to continue receiving COVID updates at future board meetings.
Trustees Maureen Schnirer and Victoria Kane both spoke in favour of receiving these reports for at least a couple months, as there was still a lot of anxiety over the COVID situation in the division.
