All students at Bowness High School in northwest Calgary will start online learning on March 8, after a COVID-19 outbreak was declared.
According to the province’s website, as of Saturday, five to nine cases have been confirmed at the school. These are cases where the virus could have been acquired or transmitted in the school.
However, multiple sources within the high school’s community told Global News that some students attended a party last weekend, though there was no confirmation of transmission from there.
Bylaw Services is not aware of any complaints related to the party.
In a statement, the Calgary Board of Education said: “Schools and employees have worked very hard over the past year to ensure that government health and safety guidelines are met, to maintain safe learning environments and reduce the spread of COVID-19.”
“We all share the responsibility to follow all health and safety guidelines, whether in school or outside of school time, to reduce the impact of COVID-19 on schools and learning,” the statement said.
A CBE letter sent to parents Friday said the decision was made to move all classes online because of the “operational capacity challenges” faced by the number of cases identified in a short time.
According to Albert Health, an outbreak investigation is over when there are no new confirmed cases in the school for 28 days.
Bowness High School students will return to in-person learning on March 17.