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A principal of two rural Alberta schools is calling for better information sharing between the education system and COVID-19 contact tracers after he says he was reminded he did not need to tell his own institution about cases in his home.
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Kevin van Lagen, the principal of Consort and Altario schools in west-central Alberta, had four positive cases of COVID-19 in his home in mid-September. He said when contact tracers called him to begin tracking the virus’s spread, they repeatedly told him he did not have to inform his kids’ school they had contracted the contagious disease.
“They would call and they would give you all the advice of what a close contact was and what you should do in the home and everything,” said van Lagen. “But then they would end the call with, ‘just so you know you’re not obligated to tell the school.'”
He added he or his wife would then reply: “Well I’m the principal or my husband’s the principal.”
After the calls, he said, he was never informed as a principal of cases or outbreaks in his schools by the government, despite knowing both schools had active cases within their communities.
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Van Lagen said he understands the contact tracers were just doing their jobs by reinforcing the idea he didn’t have to alert his children’s schools to the COVID infections at home, but he was taken aback when Premier Jason Kenney said earlier this week there has been information sharing between the government, school boards and individual schools.
“There has been information shared between schools and with their staff and with the Department of Health,” said Kenney in response to questions from the media on Thursday.
Van Lagen said this is untrue.
“It makes it really difficult for us as school leaders when our provincial leaders are giving one message and then we’re trying to navigate all this and communicate with our communities as best as we can and are allowed to,” said Van Lagen. “We’ve had 10 or more cases so far this year that I know of because families have told me, but I haven’t got a single phone call from (Alberta Health Services) to say ‘there’s a case in your school.'”
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Van Lagen said the murky communications have made it difficult for educators to follow plans set out by the government. He said if the government has realized their plans for protecting schools haven’t worked so far this year, they should say so.
“We have newer protocols in place, and we did the best we could with them,” said Van Lagen. “This year, having more than 10 cases in both schools already, obviously, their plan this year is not working and it’s OK to say, ‘it’s not working, we goofed up, let’s make a better plan.'”
The school year began with few restrictions imposed by the province. Masks were not mandated and contact tracing was largely abandoned.
This week, amid rising case rates in school-aged children, many of those restrictions were reimplemented, moving closer to the system in place last year.
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Kenney, Education Minister Adriana LaGrange and chief medical officer of health Dr. Deena Hinshaw announced case notifications would be reinstated, full contact tracing would be up and running in November and schools with two or more cases in students who were infectious while at school will be listed online.
Outbreaks will be declared when a school has 10 or more cases. Students in kindergarten to Grade 6 will move to online learning if there are three or more cases in a classroom within five days. School boards are encouraged to have their staff provide proof of vaccination to enter schools.
Nicole Sparrow, press secretary for LaGrange, said the ministry has been working with education partners since the start of the year and listening to their concerns. She said the latest measures will address concerns they have heard.
“As always, the safety of students, parents, teachers and staff remains our top priority. We will continue to follow the expert advice of the chief medical officer of health and will make changes as necessary to ensure a safe and successful school year,” said Sparrow in an email Saturday.
She said mandatory isolation for 10 days is in place for anyone who has tested positive for COVID-19 and for those who have core symptoms.
Principal decries lack of information sharing at schools with COVID-19 outbreaks - Calgary Herald
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