SD68 was one of 12 school districts on Vancouver Island chosen to assist the others with COVID-19 exposures. (file photo/NanaimoNewsNOW)

By Spencer Sterritt

rapid response

SD68 guiding all Island school districts through COVID-19 exposure events

Mar 4, 2021 | 12:00 PM

NANAIMO — Hands-on experience with COVID-19 exposures in schools is helping the Nanaimo-Ladysmith school district teach lessons to other island districts.

SD68 was selected by the ministry of education to lead a rapid response team helping all Vancouver Island school districts grapple with new COVID-19 exposures.

Dale Burgos, communications director with SD68, told NanaimoNewsNOW they’ll form a small team with a budget of up to $150,000. It will share resources to the Island’s school districts, help improve the contact tracing process and recommend better preventative measures.

“We’ve gone through exposure after exposure and worked on best practices to streamline the process,” Burgos said. “We’ve got districts on the Island that are just getting their first exposures within the last few weeks. The hope is to make it easier for districts who haven’t experienced those exposures.”

After two rounds of widespread exposure events in SD68 schools, Burgos said they’ve overcome challenges from earlier in the school year.

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“The stumbling block in the beginning was making sure we got the information out right away to affected schools. We’ve taken the steps of working with Island Health through the contact tracing process of who was in the school, what classes and who sat where. We’ve gotten better at it, sad to say, because there’ve been exposures. We pivot and adjust as we go along.”

The rapid response team will be in effect for only the last few months of the school year, slated to finish at the end of June.

The team was created roughly four months after the first COVID-19 exposure in an SD68 school.

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spencer@nanaimonewsnow.com

On Twitter: @SpencerSterritt