Some international travel has been cancelled for Sea to Sky school district staff, while parents and students wait to find out if other school-based trips will continue planned amid COVID-19 concerns.
When students or staff travel internationally, the Sea to Sky school district follows the Government of Canada and Centres for Disease Control and Prevention travel advisories, Supt. Lisa McCullough told The Squamish Chief in an email.
For international education staff at SD48, there were three international trips planned—to Brazil, the U.K. and Turkey. Each of those countries is currently under a Level 1 advisory, the lowest level, which indicates there are no significant safety concerns. The Brazil trip is scheduled to continue as planned, but the Turkey trip has been cancelled since the country borders Iran, which is under a Level 3 no-travel advisory. The trip to the U.K. is scheduled for later this school year, and travel advisories will be monitored closer to the trip.
There is one international student trip to Ecuador scheduled in March. As Ecuador is currently under a Level 1 travel advisory, the school district will monitor the situation this week and decide the day before the trip if students and staff should go ahead as planned. The trip will be cancelled if the travel advisory level changes.
No additional international trips will be planned for students or staff until further notice.
Local precautions
As more cases of COVID-19 are confirmed in B.C., school districts are educating students and parents about the virus and how to take appropriate precautions.
While no cases have been connected to the Sea to Sky, School District 48 has hired more staff members to help with their increased cleaning of "high-touch" surfaces in the schools. Vancouver Coastal Health will be doing walk-through inspections of schools this month to make sure they meet health and safety standards. McCullough said the school district has met all of the VCH's protocols and standards.
The school district's director of instruction, Phil Clarke, receives frequent updates from VCH about local protocols related to COVID-19. The schools have been encouraging everyone to wash their hands and telling anyone feeling unwell to stay home and rest.
A version of this story originally appeared in The Squamish Chief on March 6.
