‘An abundance of caution’: McVeety School closed for two weeks over COVID-19 case

Students from Marion McVeety School in Regina’s Hillsdale area will be heading to their computers on Thursday instead of the classroom — the school has been closed for two weeks due to a staff member testing positive for COVID-19.

Regina Public Schools said late Tuesday night that it had just found out about the positive test and would be closing the school for deep-cleaning on Wednesday.

On Wednesday afternoon, the division updated the public, saying the school would be closed for two weeks from the last exposure to the staff member. In-person classes are expected to resume Oct. 19.

“The staff member who tested positive was an individual whose work required that person to go through the school building. So we could not guarantee safety of everyone in the school, so rather than guess as to where that individual had been, we made the decision to close the school down for the full 14 days,” said Regina Public Schools spokesperson Terry Lazarou.

He said all the schools have developed contingency plans for something like this.

“Teachers are prepared for this and our aim is to ensure that there is a continuity of learning for students so that they can continue learning in the next two weeks and that when they return to school on Oct. 19, they can just slide back into what they were learning,” explained Lazarou.

He said the decision to close the school was made out of an abundance of caution.

“I don’t think that anyone can second-guess safety,” said Lazarou.

Lazarou explained the first priority for the division has always been the safety of staff and students.

“We’re doing this to ensure that we do it right and we’re not the cause of any kind of transmission at our schools,” he said.

Anyone who may have had close contact with the staff member in question will be contacted by Public Health and will be given instructions as to their next steps.

This is the first school closure in Regina’s public system due to a positive COVID-19 case, as well as the first positive case to happen within the division at all.

Lazarou said the division made the decision to close the school itself and will make determinations for any future situation on a case-by-case basis.

All families within the school should have been contacted on Wednesday and are expected to be getting letters as well letting them know what to expect from their teachers.