School will be in session somehow for children of essential service workers

Workers who need child care should register with the school district by Thursday

Children of essential service workers will be provided with “some level” of schooling in the Central Okanagan despite the coronavirus pandemic, it was announced Monday.

Plans are being drawn up to continue offering education for the children of people whose jobs are “considered critical to preserving life, health, and societal functioning,” Central Okanagan Public Schools said in a statement.

Three levels of priority are being devised. These are:

Tier One — healthcare workers and emergency responders

Tier Two — workers supporting vulnerable populations (eg. social workers, income assistance workers); utilities workers, and workers supporting key supply chain functions (for example, grocery store workers, warehouse employees, truckers, etc)

Tier Three — teachers and childcare workers who do not have access to childcare and who are providing care or instruction to children of emergency service workers

Anyone whose job puts them in one of the three tiers and requires childcare should log onto the Central Okanagan Public Schools website and complete the specified form by 4 p.m. on Thursday

More information will be provided by the school district as it becomes available.

The second week of the regularly scheduled spring break has begun. Classes for more than 22,000 Kelownaarea students were to have resumed next Monday but all schools have been ordered shut until further notice.

“As directed by the Minister of Education, our district is planning to ensure continuity of learning and we are developing plans to maintain some level of service for children of people who are performing essential services across our province,” read part of an unsigned statement issued Monday by Central Okanagan Public Schools.