On November 17, 2020, the Kimberley Independent School confirmed that there had been a possible exposure at the school, and that they were working with Interior Health to identify any staff or students involved.
READ MORE: Interior Health confirms COVID-19 exposure at Kimberley Independent School
“Exposure” is a term used when a single person known to have coronavirus attended school while they were infectious.
Principal Kari Johnston says that no cases have arisen from that exposure.
“We are fortunate to have such a strong team at KIS who navigated the exposure to COVID 19 exceptionally well,” she said. “By working closely with interior health and following all the protocols in place, we are pleased to report that there was no further cases within our school. Interior health commended us on doing an exceptional job with our procedures and protocols that go above and beyond what is expected.”
Johnston says that the protocols at Kimberley Independent School are as follows.
Screening staff daily
All adults entering the building must hand sanitize and wear a mask. Parents allowed in building by appointment only and will be screened.
Zero tolerance to any illness symptoms at this time. Students and staff with any symptoms stay home till symptom free.
Students all enter school through class specific entrances (classrooms all have their own exterior entrance).
If crossing cohorts, students are wearing masks
All high touch surfaces in the classroom are sanitized a minimum of 2 times a day
Bathrooms are cleaned and disinfected mid-day
Whole school is deep cleaned nightly
Following the possible exposure, the school was fogged with hospital grade disinfectant top to bottom.
If the absentee rate is higher than five per cent, the school will be fogged.
When using the busses, the students and staff wear masks and it is cleaned and fogged after each use and then deep cleaned each week.
Social distancing as much as possible within our classrooms
Being a BC wild School and running an strong place based learning program, the outside, outdoor classroom and the forest are used as much as possible.
The child care program spends a minimum of three hours per day outdoors
“We continue to be diligent with all procedures to ensure Kimberley Independent School remains a safe place for staff and students. I want to reiterate that nothing is more important than the health, well-being and safety of the KIS community. Please take care of yourself, your family and loved ones during this stressful time.”
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