Wed, 5 Jan, 2022
The health and safety of our students and staff is a priority for our Division. We continue to take steps to reduce the risk of COVID-19 transmission for students and staff. Measures include good hand hygiene, enhanced cleaning practices, the mandatory use of masks and well-maintained ventilation systems.
We recognize that ventilation is an important part of keeping staff and students safe. That’s why all of our school buildings meet or exceed the requirements outlined by the American Society of Heating, Refrigeration and Air-conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE).
We also have a number of safety and maintenance processes in place for our ventilation systems. These include:
We have done a full review of our current ventilation processes and are committed to exploring additional safety measures.
Over the winter break, representatives from our Division met with engineers and industry experts to understand what we can do to further improve ventilation. We know there won’t be a one-size-fits all approach for our schools, but based on updated recommendations from the Alberta chapters of ASHRAE, we are looking at how we can further enhance our systems. This includes:
We have also issued a Request for Proposals for vendors that can provide additional ventilation units for schools.
Today, the province announced further information about a return to school next week. We will be providing more information to parents tomorrow.
Read a letter from Superintendent Darrel Robertson about these improvements to school ventilation systems.