Sunday a letter to staff and families of the Yorkton Regional High School was posted at www.gssd.ca.
The letter outlined that Sept. 27, (Sunday), the Saskatchewan Health Authority advised Good Spirit School Division of positive cases of COVID-19 in the community of Yorkton which has impacted individuals at the Yorkton Regional High School.
“Four individuals associated with the school have tested positive and the source of infection is believed to be from community spread, and while school transmission has not been identified, parents of affected classrooms will be notified and public health has begun its contract tracing process. If you have been identified as a close contact, Public Health will communicate directly with you,” noted the letter signed from Quintin Robertson, Director of Education with the Good Spirit School Division.
To minimize further risk of transmission within the school and community, GSSD consulted with Dr. Chhetri, Local Medical Health Officer (LMHO) and Rob Currie, Deputy Minister of Education.
“Together, we have made the difficult decision to immediately transition to full mandatory remote learning for all students at the Yorkton Regional High Schoolout of an abundance of caution,” stated the letter.
“The YRHS staff have been preparing for remote learning since the spring and are confident that the move to an alternate instructional model will not impact learning.”
As a result, classes for YRHS Grade 9 to 12 students will be cancelled on Monday, Sept. 28, to allow staff to finalize preparations for the change in instructional delivery.
Mandatory remote classes will begin Tuesday, Sept. 29, at the regularly scheduled time for students, and continue through to Friday, Oct. 16.
Students will tentatively return to school on Monday, Oct. 19, based on the advice of the Local Medical Health Officer.
“As an extra precaution, the GSSD Facility team will fully disinfect the entire Yorkton Regional High School building prior to students returning to school,” detailed the letter.