The French school board that oversees Ecole Boreale is blaming the Hay River Health and Social Services Authority for delays in responding to a recent Covid-19 outbreak.
In a letter that went out to the Hay River school’s parents late Feb. 1, acting Commission scolaire francophone Territoires du Nord-Ouest (CSFTNO) superintendent Mathieu Gagnon said that an outbreak affecting some students, staff and parents the previous week had been mishandled by the territorial government.
As a result, the school board was four days delayed to respond to the issue.
“Like you, we noted that a considerable period of time had elapsed between the moment the cases were declared and the moment you received clear directives as to the management of this outbreak,” Gagnon wrote.
He insists that the school followed all proper protocols, including reporting the cases, as required by the GNWT Department of Education, Culture and Employment, the Office of the Chief Public Health Officer (OCPHO)and the Hay River Health and Social Services Authority (HRHSSA).
“We informed ECE of the situation at Ecole Boreale on the morning of Friday, Jan. 28 ” Gagnon stated in the letter. “In the afternoon of the same day, OCPHO informed ECE that the information had been passed on to the (Hay River health authority).”
The school administration was then to direct the school on how testing and isolation would take place among students and staff. But that never happened, Gagnon said.
“Unfortunately, despite multiple follow-ups, by the school administration and CSFTNO’s superintendent, it took HRHSSA four days to give us specific instructions on how to manage this outbreak.”
Letters to parents
Separate letters were sent to parents on Tuesday night, depending on whether they or their children were exposed to the virus.
One of those letters obtained by the Hub shows that the incident took place on Jan. 24 and 25, the first two days of resumed in-person learning.
The letter is dated Jan. 26 while on the GNWT Covid dashboard, the date and time category is marked “as of Jan. 31.”
According to the letter, the exposure involved grades 3 to 6.
All people who were exposed but who are vaccinated do not have to isolate while the unvaccinated must isolate immediately, according to the letter.
Household members of exposed individuals also don’t have to isolate but should monitor for Covid-19 symptoms, the correspondence advises.
A request for comment was sent to the Hay River Health and Social Services Authority and the Northwest Territories Health and Social Services Authority on Tuesday night.
This story will be updated as more information becomes available.
One parent that the Hub spoke with said it’s unacceptable for the French school board to blame the Hay River health authority in such an open manner, although the parent acknowledged that it appears that mistakes were made by at least one party.
“The blame game between government departments at this stage speaks to the completely dysfunctional nature of the GNWT,” stated the parent. “Publicly blaming the health authority for the school’s failure to act? Ridiculously, infuriatingly incompetent.
“And it takes them a week to tell us because the letter is dated Jan. 26. Someone dropped the ball.”
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