The Sir Wilfrid Laurier School Board is reporting 16 active cases of COVID-19 at Hillcrest Academy in Laval’s Chomedey district, affecting nine classes.
School officials announced Tuesday afternoon that they have decided to close down the school, citing health and safety concerns.
“We decided to do this for the safety of the students and staff as well as for the community,” Paolo Galati
Sir Wilfrid Laurier School Board chair said.
The decision was made despite Laval public health giving the recommendation to stay open.
The school will remain closed at least until the end of the week and parents have been notified via email.
“We do not know when the school will reopen yet,” Galati added.
In the meantime, classes will be moving online.
All students are expected to have access to online school by the end of the week.
Testing recommended for close contacts
School board spokesperson Maxeen Jolin said contact-tracing efforts have been in place since last week.
Laval public health officials are asking parents of children identified as being in close contact with infected individuals to be tested.
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Parents dropping off their children Tuesday morning told Global News there are concerns about safety.
“If I had the option I would keep my child at school to do online schooling,” Grade 6 parent Michael Khoury said.
The school says it recognizes and understands that the current pandemic situation creates anxiety.
“We are monitoring the situation very closely with our head office COVID team, school team and Public Health,” it says.
In addition to government certified screening tests, Hillcrest Academy is also part of a special pilot project offering saliva testing kits.
School officials say they have distributed more than 60 saliva test kits to families since last Thursday.
“Rest assured that the safety and security of our students and staff is always a priority,” Jolin said.
In Vaudreuil-Dorion an outbreak forced Brind’Amour school to officially close its doors for two days.
The Commission Scolaire des Trois-Lacs issued a statement that says the school will only reopen Thursday once the building has been disinfected.
All students who tested positive for the virus will be asked to return once their quarantine is complete.
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