COVID guns to help keep schools safe
Janitors will have some new tools to keep Kelownaarea schools safe when classes resume after Labour Day.
Fifty electrostatic sprayers, 40 handheld foggers, and 40 portable hand washing stations have been purchased by Central Okanagan Public Schools as part of its COVID-19 safety plan.
And the ranks of the janitors themselves have also been bolstered, with the 119-person department getting up to 15 new recruits in September.
This summer, all 48 Central Okanagan properties owned by the school district under a went a “full top to bottom clean,” custodial manager Eunice Hoekstra said.
Measures included cleaning of all rugs and carpets, refinishing of all middle and high school gym floors, and the washing of all buildings, including windows and sidewalks.
A raft of new procedures is in place at local schools to try to prevent the spread of COVID-19. These include barring parents from schools (unless they’re specifically invited in by the principal), mandatory hand sanitizing upon entrance to all buildings, and staggering recess throughout the day to limit the number of kids who may congregate together.
As well, ventilation systems will be run for longer periods of time, and the equipment has been adjusted to bring in as much outdoor air as possible.
The district will try to ensure that substitute teachers are sent to the same school, whenever possible, rather than rotated through different schools.
The Strong Start program, available to kids below kindergarten age at some schools, will be run on a weekly registration basis, rather than as a casual dropin program.