Chilliwack’s Mount Cheam Christian School has closed for the week, due to a staffing problem brought on by COVID-19 exposures.
The school was closed Monday and will remain closed until Friday, Oct. 30, principal Jan Neels confirmed with Black Press.
“As you may be aware, there have been COVID-19 exposures at Mount Cheam Christian School,” he writes. “This has affected the number of staff we have available to hold classes. As a result, we are closing the school until the end of day Friday, Oct. 30.”
They are continuing to work with Fraser Health and follow their directives, Neels adds, while temporarily shifting to online learning.
“At the time of our return, we will continue to follow our COVID safety plan,” Neels continues. “We hope those affected will not get very sick and will recover quickly.”
The closure was first mentioned by Dr. Bonnie Henry on Monday afternoon during her regular COVID-19 briefing, although she only mentioned the school was in the Fraser Health region. This is in addition to a francophone school in Kelowna which has also closed due to staffing levels following an exposure.
Mount Cheam is an independent school with just under 400 students from Kindergarten to Grade 12.
The school is listed by Fraser Health as having an exposure at the school on Oct. 16. Mennonite Educational Independent School in Abbotsford has also had an exposure that’s listed that occured Oct. 13, 14 and 16. Fraser Health is currently listing about 58 exposures in its region’s schools, and the region spans from Burnaby to Hope.
READ MORE: Two Chilliwack schools send letters out regarding potential COVID-19 exposures
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