Palsson Elementary School

Parents, families, and community, now is your chance to offer your input into the Board of Education's 2023/24 Annual Budget process. Take 6 minutes to fill out this survey (and watch a brief overview video) and help the Board chart the next budget.

Help the Board of Education chart the course for the next year through the annual budget survey. This 3 minute survey is accompanied by a 3 minute explainer video and the results will help the Board plan for the upcoming year.

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/8BFRF53

(Edit: Sunday, Feb 12)
Our apologies, the survey has now been updated to allow for multiple answer selection. Previous survey answers will still be counted, but the new format allows for more robust feedback. All previous answers will be counted in our final report.

Survey is open until Sunday, February 26.

There has recently been some confusion on what to do if you become sick with COVID-19. A new document was released that helps clarify the process and what you should do. You can view that document directly at:https://sd79.bc.ca/wp-content/uploads/daily-health-check-jan-2022-1.pdf

Or visit our COVID-19 Health and Safety Page at: https://sd79.bc.ca/covid-19-updates-health-and-safety/

Over the winter break, jurisdictions around the world have seen a sudden change in the COVID-19 pandemic with the discovery and prevalence of the Omicron variant. This discovery, and the rapid spread of this variant, is again an impetus for the educational system in BC to respond.

On December 29th, the Ministry of Education and Dr. Bonnie Henry announced a staggered start to school after the winter break. This staggered start means that schools will be open and staffed on Tuesday, January 4th to welcome the children of essential health care workers and any student who requires additional supports. On Monday, January 10th all learners are expected to be in attendance.

This additional four-day week will give schools the opportunity to implement the new enhanced Health and Safety Guidelines as well as time to coordinate the continuity of learning plans for in-class instruction. In addition, it will allow staff time to create optimal learning opportunities in alignment with the new Health and Safety Guidelines.

Over the last year we have invested in upgrades to our ventilation at our schools, we have created a culture of mask wearing, and we have increased the availability of washing stations and hand sanitizers. These measures will continue in the coming months, but none are as crucial as ensuring your child(ren) performs the Daily Health Check .

The above measures work well to protect others if COVID is in a school, but the best way to protect yourself is to ensure that you receive your COVID-19 vaccination. With vaccination now open for 5-11 year-olds, we encourage you to register your child for their vaccine. For those of you who have already taken this important next step, thank you for supporting this highly successful intervention.

To support face-to-face learning of students of essential health care workers and those that require additional supports, we will not be able to provide additional classes or online learning options to the students who will be back in class on January 10th.

If you are wondering if you are an essential health care worker, or have questions about your school’s specific supports, please reach out to your school principal. For those students who will be off for next week, we look forward to seeing you on the 10th.

Lastly, but importantly, busing will be available for students starting on Tuesday, January 4th. If you have any questions, please contact Transportation, they will be sure to assist you with any questions.

Huy tseep q’u (thank you all) for your patience and understanding as we collectively work though this sudden change in our year.

- Robyn Gray, Superintendent

'Uy' netulh mukw lhwet (good morning everyone). While we have had a little bit of snow overnight, schools will be OPEN today. Some transportation services may be delayed due to road conditions in some areas, but otherwise, it will be business as usual. See you at school!

The Cowichan Valley School District is playing a part in helping to alleviate further strain on the supply chain, and supporting the province’s recovery, after the recent historic floods resulted in a State of Emergency being declared across the province.

The Province of BC has called on all residents and organizations to come together to support this effort, and stories from communities across the province have shown neighbours stepping up to provide food, shelter, relief, and a helping hand to those who are directly affected.

As a responsible organization in the community, the Cowichan Valley School District is taking immediate action to further support the economic recovery of the area and the province. Starting today, the district is redistributing some operations and support staff to various sites throughout the district to keep them working closer to home, postponing most field trips, sporting events, and celebrations that require car or bus travel, immediately pivoting face-to-face meetings to online, and having select non-school staff work from home.

“With BC’s most recent declaration of a State of Emergency it is crucial that we take quick, decisive action to help support our community in any way we can,” said Candace Spilsbury, Chair of the Board of Education for the Cowichan Valley School District. “Now is the time to look at our neighbours, friends and community and ask, ‘What can I do for you?’ We want to ensure that we are playing a part in this recovery and ask every member of our community to do the same.”

These actions will be in effect until December 1, 2021 when they will be reviewed to see if additional actions are needed.

Do you need the wheels on the bus to go round and round to get your family members to school next year? May is bus registration month for the 2021/22 school year.

Register online now: https://www.awinfosys.com/das2/sd79/public/bussingregistrationnew.asp

Here is a wonderful opportunity for Indigenous families to have their voice represented at the District Parent Advisory Council table. Please take the time to join in and learn more.

Join the Board of Education for the Public Budget Meeting on the 2021/22 year budget.

The meeting is on Tuesday, April 20, 2021 from 5:30 pm until 6:30 pm.

Join us here: https://sd79.zoom.us/j/62421853968?pwd=cWR4MFFsNFJQNTZLSEVOcCtHc0NPdz09

The Board of Education for the Cowichan Valley School District has launched their annual budget survey and is hoping the public will help guide the budget process by sharing their thoughts.

** Take the budget survey now: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/LNNPJQY **

This year’s survey focuses on ‘Beyond Education’, the Cowichan Valley School District’s Strategic Plan, and asks for the public’s guidance on budgeting for the path forward. In addition to asking for feedback in these areas, the Board is reporting back to the community on the advances made as a result of last year’s responses.

“The School District’s budget is the financial plan that resources our schools and allows us to deliver programs that helps prepare our learners for a world they will create. This year is so much different than those before as we are contending with the realities of a year-long worldwide pandemic,” said Candace Spilsbury, Chair of the Board of Education for the Cowichan Valley School District. “We are asking for your feedback as community engagement around our budget is a key aspect of determining where we put our resources.”

The survey is available at https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/LNNPJQY and can be found here on the Cowichan Valley School District’s page and also on our Twitter account and website (www.sd79.bc.ca). If you do not have access to a computer, hard copy surveys can be printed for you at your school. Survey responses will be collected until Tuesday, April 20, 2021.

Last night our District received the updated Health and Safety guidelines for K-12 schools from the Ministry of Education. The changes to the new guidelines focus on masks, and the requirements for all students in Grades 4-12 to wear them at all times while in a school building and on the bus. The guidelines strongly encouraging mask wearing for our K-3 students as well. While this change has been talked about over the last two days, we now have the documents in hand that provide clarification and further direction for us.

The two documents are linked here for your reference. An updated letter (below) is being sent to all families today. An abbreviated explanation for the new guidelines can be found here: https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/education-training/k-12/covid-19-safe-schools

BC CDC guidance document:http://www.bccdc.ca/Health-Info-Site/Documents/COVID_public_guidance/Addendum_Public_Health_Guidance_K-12.pdf

Ministry guidance document:https://www2.gov.bc.ca/assets/gov/education/administration/kindergarten-to-grade-12/safe-caring-orderly/k-12-covid-19-health-safety-guidlines.pdf

Yesterday we received information about updated Health and Safety Guidelines in our schools, specifically referring to mask usage. While the finalized updated guidelines have not been shared with school districts, we wanted to ensure we were sharing what information we had with families. Please see the attached letter from Superintendent Robyn Gray that will help outline our process and the information we have. This letter is being sent to every family in the Cowichan Valley School District.