Under the current FFSD plan, no classes at all will take place for Kindergarten-Grade 8 students from Ecole McIsaac School and Ruth Betts Community School. All those Kindergarten-Grade 8 classes will fully move to remote learning May 26. This proactive shift to temporary remote learning can cause additional stress, however, we want to assure you that our staff across the division are here to support you, said FFSD superintendent Tammy Ballantyne in a letter sent to parents and media May 22. Working together, we can ensure your children s education continues as smoothly as possible throughout the remote learning period. Your continued support is greatly appreciated as we navigate the changes together through this pandemic.
“The school is working closely with public health officials and is following their recommendations. Close contacts have been identified and are advised to self-isolate along with their household members,” reads the letter. “If you have not been contacted by the school stating your child is a potential close contact and a public health official has not contacted you, your child has not been identified as being exposed to COVID-19 from this/these cases.” Anyone who was in the cohort, including staff and students, is asked to self-monitor for the now-traditional COVID-19 symptoms, ranging from a fever, chills, sore throat, loss of taste or smell, vomiting and the like. If those symptoms arise, people are asked to self-isolate and present for testing to Flin Flon General Hospital - public health advises the testing because it will help health workers determine whether the school is the place where the disease was transmitted. Schools or school divisions are not permitted, as
The letter is cosigned by 30 former school division superintendents, including former Flin Flon School Division superintendent Dan Reagan. Several former Frontier School Division superintendents and area superintendents also signed off on the letter, including Karen Crozier, Ray Derksen, Arnold Dysart, Cathy Fidierchuk, Cam Giavedoni, Strini Reddy, Winston Smith, Jerry Storie and David Yeo. The Frontier group brings with it a series of people who have received further honours - Storie served as the MLA for Flin Flon from 1981-95, was a provincial cabinet minister from 1982-88 and is a former dean of education at Brandon University, while Reddy was named a member of the Order of Canada in 2017.
The biggest changes announced were for Manitoba’s two largest cities. As of May 12, all K-12 schools in Winnipeg and Brandon will move to full remote learning until May 30 at the earliest. “While schools have done an excellent job of protecting staff and students throughout this pandemic, we see a great deal of community transmission right now. This community transmission is affecting schools, particularly in Winnipeg and in Brandon. Moving these schools to remote learning will help address some of that community transmission. We need to act now to break these transmission chains,” Roussin said during the May 9 briefing. “While schools in Winnipeg and Brandon will move to remote learning, schools in other parts of Manitoba will be remaining open. Additional measures, though, will be implemented.”
Colleen McKee, a frequent advocate and public figure in Flin Flon for over three decades, died Nov. 11 following a battle with cancer. McKee was 57 years old. - FILE PHOTO
McKee (second from left, along with fellow councillors Tim Babcock, Karen MacKinnon, Ken Pawlachuk and Colleen Arnold) sat on Flin Flon’s city council from 2006 until her death. - FILE PHOTO
Always up for a challenge, McKee took part in a turkey curling event earlier this year between councillors from Flin Flon, Creighton and Denare Beach. Denare Beach won, but the winners’ trophy disappeared not long after the victory. - FILE PHOTO