At a special meeting of the Board on September 8, 2021, the Wild Rose School Division Board of Trustees held an important discussion on the additional health measures announced by the province of Alberta on September 3, 2021. Of particular interest were the following two new mandates from the government:

• Masks are mandatory for all indoor public spaces and workplaces. Schools are not required to implement masking but school boards will continue to set COVID-19 management policies as they deem appropriate.
• Albertans are encouraged to limit in-person contacts.

After a lengthy discussion regarding these new measures, the WRSD Board of Trustees passed the following motion: "That the Wild Rose School Division implement no indoor school gatherings and that all adult (non staff) and volunteers are required to wear masks while in school facilities." 

This means that school assemblies involving the entire student body will be paused until further notice and all adult visitors and guests to the school must wear a mask. Extracurricular and sports activities can continue with spectators. However, all parents and adult visitors must wear a mask while attending these events and these events cannot include the entire student body.

As per the health guidelines from Alberta Health Services, masking and cohorting are not mandated for students and staff in WRSD schools. However, we fully support all students and staff who choose to wear a mask at school. 

Our schools will continue to follow all other Alberta Health Services guidelines including:

1. Required ventilation in our schools
2. Enhanced cleaning & disinfecting
3. Requiring students and staff to stay home when sick - parents/guardians should assess their children daily for any new signs or symptoms of COVID-19 using the Alberta Health Daily Checklist
4. Hand hygiene
5. Respiratory etiquette 
6. Responding to symptomatic students and staff while at school
7. Reporting high absenteeism rates to Alberta Health Services
8. Cooperating with Alberta Health Services to make COVID-19 vaccinations available to students and staff in our schools. Vaccines have shown a significant level of protection against severe outcomes from COVID-19. Students under 18 years of age will require written parental consent. 

Alberta Health Services has stated that they will be watching for increases in hospitalizations and severe outcomes in our province and they will continue to review new evidence and research across Canada and around the world. We trust that based on their expertise, they will adjust these health measures as needed.  Student and staff safety will continue to be the top priority of the WRSD Board of Trustees. We desire to see our schools stay open in a manner that supports the learning and wellbeing of all our students.