School classes were cancelled throughout B.C. last Tuesday, March 17, although it took a few days for one session to wrap up in Maple Ridge.
Friday was the last day for a group that was renting space at Thomas Haney secondary, said Maple Ridge-Pitt Meadows School District communications spokesperson Irena Pochop.
The group was providing child minding and programming services to international students between the ages of nine and 16.
READ MORE: B.C. to suspend K-12 schools indefinitely due to COVID-19
But the group was following all recommendations by the provincial health officer on handwashing and social distancing, Pochop said. The group of about 25 children was divided into smaller groups, so that six or fewer were in each room.
“Enhanced cleaning was of course also implemented at the facility,” she said.
Today was their last day as the school district has cancelled all community rentals and school-use bookings for the foreseeable future, she added.
It was a third party renting school board space and it wasn’t K-12 instruction provided by the school district, she added.
READ MORE: Maple Ridge Pitt Meadows school district cancels several Spring Break trips
Premier John Horgan announced the cancellation of kindergarten to Grade 12 classes on March 17, until further notice.
“This is a crisis situation, there’s no making that sound any better,” Horgan said. He said a decision on when classes return will be made in the future.
Although the vast majority of students are on spring break currently, Education Minister Rob Fleming said schools with students who are still in class will be told close immediately.
“We’ve urged schools and school districts to begin planning now to ensure a continuity of learning while in-class instruction is suspended in B.C. schools indefinitely,” Fleming said previously.
“Today, under the direction of the provincial health officer we are directing all schools to immediately suspend in-class instruction until further notice,” Fleming said in a March 17 letter to parents.
