DPAC Special meeting - Omicron edition

(edited February 17, 2022)

In the weeks from December to January, the changing COVID situation and delayed start of school prompted an increased number of emails with questions and concerns about school safety measures.

We submitted a list of questions to the VSB and VCH during the delayed week, inviting them to meet with parents before the start of school. In our subsequent conversations, we learned that many details were still being finalized, and much planning work was still ongoing at both organizations. They could not commit to a Q&A session at such short notice (two days!) but would endeavour to provide written answers. Here is the list of questions and the log of how they’ve been answered. It is in log format, and is a dynamic document.

We hosted a initial meeting for parents Monday Jan 10th 7PM. It was attended by over 170 attendees, including a number of trustees that made time to listen to parent concerns. Since that time we have held weekly meetings and plan to continue for the time being (aside from Family Day). We received some verbal answers prior to the meeting (and other answers are sourced from VSB provided materials). We are still awaiting written answers.

On an ongoing basis, we’re holding a Monday meeting from 7 to 8:30 pm to hear from parents and caregivers about how their students are experiencing school at this time, and the concerns arising.

As time goes on and a wave subsides, our conversations are shifting. A week ago, we had parent Kyenta Martins present on her work around air monitoring. Here is the work that has been done to advocate by her and her school PAC, and the video of Kyenta’s presentation on Monday, February 7, 2022.

Last week a parent suggested that we start advocating for VSB to create a “disaster plan” for following waves or new pandemics, which are expected to happen over time. He asked: "We teach kids to know what to do in case of a fire in their home in grade 3, and we have in place and practice responses to fires, floods and earthquakes. Why would we not start now to create a plan for future waves / pandemics?” DPAC is starting to organize

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