October 6th, 2020

As you may have heard, the Ministry of Education announced on Thursday that it has updated its COVID-19 school and child care screening guidance. The TDSB takes its lead from Toronto Public Health, who has also revised their guidance based on the provincial direction.

According to the revised guidelines, students and children with symptoms such as fever and cough will still be advised to stay home until they are able to consult with a health care provider and receive an alternate diagnosis or a negative COVID-19 test. A second set of questions now deals with symptoms that are commonly associated with other illnesses, such as runny nose or headache, and provides the following direction:

• Students and children with only one of these symptoms will be advised to stay home for 24 hours, after which they can return to school or child care if their symptoms are improving.
• Students and children with two or more of these symptoms will be advised to stay home until they are able to consult with a health care provider and receive an alternative diagnosis or a negative COVID-19 test.

In addition, based on the latest public health guidance, the symptom list for children in school and child care no longer includes abdominal pain or conjunctivitis (pink eye).

Based on this update, here is the new student screening tool from Toronto Public Health, as well as the revised TDSB’s Health Pass. The TDSB Daily Health Screening App has also been updated to reflect these changes.

Ensuring the health and safety of our staff and students is our priority and we all play a role. Again, one of the most important things families can to do help slow the spread of COVID-19 is to screen their children daily for COVID-19 symptoms and keep them home from school if they are sick or have had close contact with anyone diagnosed with COVID-19.

Thank you for your continued efforts to help keep our school environments safe and healthy.

September 14th, 2020

Ensuring the health and safety of our students and staff is a priority and everyone plays a role. The most important thing families can do to help mitigate the transmission of COVID-19, is to screen their children daily for any COVID-19 symptoms and keep them home from school if they are sick or have had close contact with anyone diagnosed with COVID-19. All staff and visitors will also be required to screen themselves before entering a TDSB building.

Before coming to school or an administration building each day, all students must conduct an active student health screening self-assessment and all staff must conduct an active adult health screening self-assessment.

Learn more about next steps using the Toronto Public Health COVID-19 Decision Guide

If, based on your answers you are clear to come to school/work, please record the information daily in one of the following ways, which will allow you to enter to your school or administration building:

To use the app, please note:

• Parents/guardians are to use their child’s student account information to login to the Health Screening App. 
• If you don’t know your child's student account information, please contact IT Services Support via Student Password / Device Help. 
• If you don’t know your child’s student account information or cannot access it, please feel free to use the Health Screening Paper Pass. 
• For a step-by-step guide, please refer to How to Use the Health Screening App. 

Once students and staff arrive at school or an administration building, enter through the designated doors where a staff member will verify your health screening information.
 

Simply show the staff member either your signed Health Pass, or, if you used the Health Screening App, show your QR code or provide your name for verification. Then, sanitize your hands, take a mask if necessary and continue to your classroom or work area.

If you were unable to record your active health screening at-home or forgot to:

• Elementary students will be asked if they are feeling well:
  • If the answer is yes, they will be allowed to go into the classroom with a mask/face covering on and maintaining physical distancing, the staff member at the door will note their name and the parent/guardian will be contacted to conduct the full assessment by phone.
  • If they say no, they will be sent to the Wellness Room and their parent/guardian will be contacted.

September 14th 2020

Ensuring the health and safety of students and staff is a priority and everyone plays a role. Following guidance from Toronto Public Health, a number of key measures will be put into place – including physical distancing, hand hygiene and respiratory etiquette, and screening for symptoms – in the TDSB to help stop the spread of COVID-19.

Read more about our health and safety measures, check out our Health and Safety Considerations Checklist for an at-a-glance overview of some of the measures we're taking to keep students and staff safe, learn more about the requirement of masks/face coverings in TDSB schools and administrative buildings and read our TDSB Response Plan for Managing COVID-19 in Schools and Administrative Buildings. 

For more informatiion, please click here.

September 2nd, 2020

As we prepare to open our schools and welcome back students and staff, we are doing everything possible to ensure the health and safety of all school community members, while also providing the best academic experience possible for students, supporting mental health and well-being and considering the needs of families and staff.

Elementary Schools

Elementary schools will have a staggered start for students over the first three days (September 15, 16 and 17).

The start dates for each elementary grade level are based on school configuration. Once a student starts school on the first day for their grade, they continue to attend school every day. In cases where unique circumstances require a school to adjust its opening schedule, the school will contact families directly to provide more information. 

For more information, please Click Here

Effective September 2020, the TDSB will be changing school start and end times at 129 elementary schools across the city. By staggering the start and end times of these schools, the TDSB is able to plan bus routes more efficiently and this will be better for our students by ensuring that:

• Students get to school on time; and
• We reduce the number of busses used for transporting students

This decision was made in June 2019 as part of last year’s budget process. TDSB Trustees approved an operating budget plan for the 2019-20 school year that required $67.8 million in staff reductions and changes to programs/services to address provincial government funding reductions and the TDSB’s annual structural deficit.

For more information, please click here

To find out Chalfkarm Public School's new start and end time, click here. We are located on the first page, about half way down the page.