Message from Chair of the Board, Rick Petrella
My Dear Friends,
You may have learned by now that late last evening, the Board was directed by Brant County Public Health to close St. Peter Catholic Elementary School due to the number of positive COVID-19 cases. Our St. Peters students will be learning remotely until the school reopens on Thursday, March 11, 2021.
This was not a decision that the Board received lightly and although it was at the direction of public health, the Board is fully in support of this action due to the number of recent cases that have occurred connected to the St. Peter Catholic Elementary School community.
As a parent with a child at St. Peters, I fully understand the concerns associated with the recent cases and the school closure, including the significant impact this will have on our children, parents, staff, and community. I can only reassure you that this course of action was necessary for the safety of our students and staff.
The pandemic has affected us in many ways over the past year and, like you, we regret that the community spread of the virus has disrupted face-to-face learning again. We understand that the announcement of this decision was with short notice as we received the direction from public health last evening and had to act quickly.
Having said that, I would like to update you on the next steps and actions being taken at St. Peter Catholic Elementary School:
- We have dispatched our Facilities Services team to the school to complete the intensive deep cleaning and disinfecting procedure as per our protocols.
- Remote online learning will be provided to all students while the school is closed. The school will provide details to families on synchronous and asynchronous learning soon.
- Wellness supports and resources will continue to be provided to all students for the duration of the school closure period.
- We will continue to work with public health in terms of identifying positive cases and other matters related to student and staff safety not only at St. Peters, but at all schools.
- We continue our commitment to all families to communicate matters pertaining to the pandemic, as quickly as possible.
Throughout the course of this pandemic there have been many setbacks, and this is another example. As we have in the past, we will work together to move forward to best serve our students and our Catholic community. We remain committed to doing everything in our power to make all BHNCDSB schools a safe place to learn including executing our enhanced safety and cleaning measures to help minimize the possibility of transmission in our schools.
We are grateful for the continued understanding and support of our families and will continue to pray that we will soon be able to move beyond this pandemic.
God bless,
Rick Petrella, Chair of the Board
