At KCS, we believe it is our responsibility to ensure we are doing everything we can to protect our students and staff, and to help ensure staff are able to continue teaching.

Since September 2021, KCS has had a mandatory vaccination policy for all teachers, guest teachers, staff, visitors to campus such as contractors, and students who were born in 2009 or earlier. This means that everyone who physically enters the Junior school or Senior school must provide proof of vaccination.

As noted in our communications throughout Fall 2021, the Re Entry Task Force has been undergoing a thorough review of our current Student Vaccination Policy. We have made some important changes to the policy with the full support of our Board of Governors:

1. The Student Vaccination Policy now includes KCS students ages 5-11 years old.

2. As of September 2022, all eligible students will be required to be fully vaccinated.

These changes to the policy have taken into account reliable scientific evidence, public health guidance and requirements, and relevant human rights legislation. Evidence demonstrates that vaccines can provide protection from hospitalization, limit the severity of the disease, and help to protect others in the community. At this time, the term “fully vaccinated” means two doses for students. However, we do anticipate that will change as the pandemic evolves and our policy will reflect the most current definition in any case.

Based on the availability of booster vaccines, staff currently require their third dose to be considered fully vaccinated. As public health experts approve and recommend subsequent doses for students, we will expect students to update their vaccination status. KCS will set deadlines for updating vaccine status as circumstances warrant. This requirement will continue to be our policy for all adults at our two campuses.

Our mask and vaccination policies are consistent with other independent schools’, and align with our promise to families to meet or exceed the recommendations and requirements from regulatory agencies. We remain grateful that our families have broadly complied with our mitigation strategies.

All KCS faculty, staff, and students will continue to be required to provide written proof that they are fully vaccinated. These records will be kept in a secure location along with other health records, in accordance with KCS’ existing privacy and security policies.

As is the case with our mandatory mask policy, students may request a medical exemption from the vaccination requirement, however, we do want to note that eligibility for this will be extremely limited. We will continue to work with our established panel to evaluate medical exemption requests from our mask and vaccine policies. The panel includes:

• Our School Nurse

• A member of Senior Administration

• Two volunteers: a non-parent KCS Governor and a member of our parent community who serves on the Governance Committee (these two volunteers do not sit on the Re Entry Task Force).

An external medical consultant has also been hired to advise the panel. The consultancy specializes in providing objective, arm’s length medical advice to organizations such as ours and has COVID-specific expertise based on key learnings over the past 21 months.

KCS is committed to following physical distancing recommendations from Toronto Public Health. All desks in Grades 1 to 9 will support keeping students at least 1. 4 metres apart while inside. While our JK and SK students don’t sit in desks, they have rooms that provide space for them to spread out by at least this distance as well. We recognize that young students, and particularly our youngest, will find it difficult to always remain physically distanced. Our many mitigation measures and small class sizes support teachers and students in doing their best to maintain appropriate distance while also encouraging healthy social interaction.

Following recommendations from Sick Kids and Toronto Public Health, KCS students will attend school in small classes. JK and SK students will learn in classes with no more than 11 students. In Grades 1- 9 students will learn in classes of no more than 15 students. These small class sizes will reduce the potential for transmission, increase the impact of our ventilation upgrades, and notably enhance our teachers’ ability to attend to the needs of their students in these exceptional times.

KCS staff will be provided with N95/KN95 masks to wear indoors and surgical masks to wear when on duty outdoors. Students are encouraged to wear N95/KN95 for better protection as well. At a minimum, well-fitting, medical masks will be mandated across the school. KCS will make disposable medical masks available for students if they forget, lose or damage their masks. Students should bring at least three masks to school each day, a paper bag for storing the mask between uses, and two Ziploc bags labelled ‘clean’ and ‘dirty’. The folded surgical mask can be stored between uses in a clean paper bag. Avoid using plastic bags that create condensation inside the bag. Here are some links on proper mask-wearing and how to make a mask fits small faces:

• Maximizing Fit for Cloth and Medical Procedure Masks to Improve Performance and Reduce SARS-CoV-2 Transmission and Exposure

• Improve How Your Mask Protects You

• Knot and tuck technique

Other PPE such as gowns, gloves, and face shields for staff will be available should they be needed to help a student or staff member who presents with symptoms while at school.

Outdoor times will be used as opportunities to provide students with mask breaks. As well, when students are eating or drinking they will remove their masks. Additional ways to incorporate mask breaks will be considered and approved by Senior Administrators and our School Nurse, in consultation with the Re-Entry Task Force, should they be safe and reasonable to do so.

Face shields are not an alternative to masks that parents or students can choose without approval from the Head of School (see Exemptions below). In addition, masks with valves do not provide the same safety for the community so are not acceptable at school. Parents who wish to learn more from Toronto Public Health about masks are encouraged to read their guidelines document: Use of Face Masks and Coverings.

Exemptions

Inquiries should begin with our School Nurse. A medical note provided by the student’s primary family physician will be expected to support such requests. Students may request a medical exemption, however, we do want to note that eligibility for this is extremely limited. We will continue to work with our established panel to evaluate medical exemption requests from our mask and vaccine policies. The panel includes:

• Our School Nurse

• A member of Senior Administration

• Two volunteers: a non-parent KCS Governor and a member of our parent community who serves on the Governance Committee (these two volunteers do not sit on the Re Entry Task Force).

We have hired an external medical consultant to advise the panel. The consultancy specializes in providing objective, arm’s length medical advice to organizations such as ours and has COVID-specific expertise based on key learnings over the past 21 months.

Where an exemption is granted, alternative strategies to mitigate risk will be followed. As with everything related to our re-entry planning, we will monitor developments within KCS and in the broader context, and reevaluate our expectations so they’re optimal for our community’s health, safety, and well-being.

Masks are the reality for most of us. With the emergence of the Omicron variant and Ontario being in a 5th wave, it is clear that continued vigilance is necessary. It is well established that masks help reduce the transmission of respiratory particles that may contain the virus. The evidence also indicates that mask-wearing, which reduces the amount of exposure, lowers the severity of symptoms should someone contract the COVID-19 virus, including for those who are fully vaccinated. This is especially important to protect staff, our youngest students who are not yet eligible for the vaccine, and for our students who are at increased risk of severe illness from Covid-19.

We recognize that the evidence differs between adults and children, but developments support a cautious approach when it comes to students. As new variants emerge, including the now widely-spreading Omicron variant, the risks are increasing for everyone. Vaccinated individuals do remain at risk from breakthrough infection, but all evidence shows that they will not get as sick as unvaccinated individuals. Masks are here for the foreseeable future and expected for Toronto inhabitants who wish to engage in healthy activities, which for our students include reopening child and youth programs.

Parents and teachers have long shared the responsibility to help children learn about their health and practices to support it. Helping children learn how to properly use masks, even once vaccinated if applicable, is part of helping our students grow and confidently face the world. Wearing masks has been our reality for the past 22 months, and will remain that way for the foreseeable future, so it is important that we continue to work together to support this important risk mitigation measure. Parents who are looking for guidance on how to help their child adapt to and better understand why they need to wear masks are encouraged to click on this link.

Students and staff will frequently wash and/or sanitize their hands throughout the day. Alcohol-based hand sanitizers with at least 70% alcohol concentration are available in all classrooms, hallways, and throughout the school for easy access. Sanitizer will be applied before entering the school each morning. Either handwashing or use of hand sanitizer will take place when leaving and entering a room, before and after eating, and before and after using the washroom. When hands are visibly soiled, washing hands with soap and water is recommended.

Screening is another practice to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 in indoor spaces. As expected in all Ontario schools, anyone experiencing symptoms associated with COVID-19 must not enter KCS. The Toronto Public Health COVID-19 Fact Sheet provides helpful information on symptoms and screening.

The Thrive screening tool is to be completed by parents (on behalf of their children) and staff as part of our COVID-19 screening process each morning. The process is easy, private, and efficient for families and staff. This process consists of a series of questions related to any symptoms students and staff may be experiencing, as well as any potential contact with COVID-19 through travel or personal contacts. Only students and staff who have been screened and cleared are allowed to enter school facilities.

We recognize that many of the symptoms of COVID-19 are the same as those of a simple cold or other common viruses. Staying home from the first sign of any symptoms will reduce the presence of all viruses, including cold, flu, and stomach bugs, thereby helping us limit the spread of everything that would possibly require a COVID-19 test. Each of us doing what is required protects all of us. When a child presents with one or more symptoms or if there is a positive case within the household, we ask parents to keep the child at home and contact the school nurse for further direction and support. Any students who must stay at home but feel well enough to join classes can do so remotely by contacting their teacher, and will be marked present.

Any student or staff member who develops COVID-19 symptoms while in school will be immediately separated from others. Students will be taken to our Health Centre and supervised by our School Nurse until they are able to go home. Physical distancing will be maintained and PPE will be provided consistent with public health guidance. Staff experiencing symptoms will be relieved of their day’s duties and sent home.

Following Ministry of Health guidance, staff and students who develop symptoms at school will be provided with a saliva PCR test kit. Students and staff who test positive may not return to school until they are cleared according to the Public Health guidance, either 5 or 10 days after their positive test. Students and staff who test negative (1 PCR or 2 RAT taken 48 hours apart) may return to school after symptoms have been improving for 24 hours, and 48 hours for gastrointestinal (GI) (nausea/vomiting, diarrhea) symptoms.

According to the most recent guidance from Ministry of Health and Toronto Public Health for non-publicly funded schools, the KCS School Nurse will immediately report the following to Toronto Public Health:

• 30% of student/staff absenteeism on a given day

• Cases of COVID-19 among staff or students that are confirmed by PCR or Rapid Antigen Test

Based on the new provincial guidelines, Ontario schools are no longer required to notify parents of positive cases and dismiss cohorts. As a courtesy, KCS will continue to notify the cohort parents should there be a positive case in the cohort.

Furthermore, a cohort will be switched to At-Home learning for 5 days when the in-school transmission rate is 40% or higher within a cohort. A grade-based dismissal will be determined on a case-by-case basis by determining whether there is evidence of cross-cohort transmission. In the event of a cohort getting sent home for 5 days, siblings of the positive cases will remain home for at least 5 days since the symptoms onset of the positive household member. Siblings of the rest of the cohort members can come to school for in-person learning. All students who are returning to school after an isolation will be cleared by Nurse Dorothy.

We are pleased to have Dorothy Chan, our School Nurse, to help guide us through the pandemic and all health-related protocols and procedures. Dorothy joined our staff in September, 2020 after moving back to Canada from Hong Kong where she worked as a school nurse at Hong Kong International School, which is a leading private school that follows the American education curriculum. The school has over 2500 students with 40 nationalities making up the student body.

Since joining KCS, Dorothy has had numerous COVID-related responsibilities including policies/protocols, infection control management and communication, and vendor management for PPEs. As well, Dorothy provided first aid, helped to manage the Health Office including student records, and she did some teaching and training for both students and staff on a number of health-related topics. This was very similar to her work in Hong Kong. Prior to working in Hong Kong, Dorothy was a Registered Nurse for eight years at the North York General Hospital. She is a current member of the Registered Nurses Association of Ontario. Dorothy is married with two young children.

We have additional personnel to provide heightened cleaning and sanitization throughout the school, and to focus particular attention on washrooms and high-touch surfaces (door handles, for example), which will be sanitized multiple times each day. The reduction of materials in classrooms will make thorough cleaning easier. Since technology is difficult to thoroughly clean, students in Grades 1 to 9 have a dedicated device and no longer share iPads or laptops. There will continue to be minimal sharing of resources, with items cleaned between use.

To maximize safety and minimize unnecessary trips and waiting in line in the hall, students are encouraged to bring two full water bottles to school each day if they can manage them. Students will be allowed to refill their water bottles should they need to. Drinking directly from the water fountain spout in the Junior School will be off limits at this time.

Parents in the Junior School who wish to order milk can do so through the Kidssentials service explained below.

We have a staggered lunch period where some students have a scheduled lunch break. There are three lunch periods this year: Grades 7 - 8: 11:35 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.; JK and Grades 1, 2, 5, 6: 12:00 - 12:25 p.m.; SK and Grades 3 - 4: 12:25 - 12:50 p.m. We do not have the capacity to support lunches being dropped off mid-morning as was sometimes done previously. Students must arrive at school with what they will need for the day. Kidssentials, an external caterer, will be available to provide lunches five days a week. More information about the Kidssentials program can be found in Schoology.

As always, we ask parents to support our boomerang lunch policy, which is that all materials related to each child’s lunch and snack be returned home for reuse or, in the case of leftover food or recyclables, put in the proper bin at home. We don’t have the capacity to sort waste as well as homes can. Thank you for supporting our efforts to minimize our footprint and also teach our students environmental stewardship.

Students will have additional times in the morning and afternoon where they can have a snack. Parents are asked to please pack a variety of easy to open, healthy snacks.

Teachers can help younger students open snack and lunch containers if necessary (following protocols for sanitizing hands before and after touching items) but we appreciate parents’ help in teaching their child how to open items themselves.

KCS engaged experts in mechanical engineering, ventilation, and infection control to help guide upgrades to our Junior School's HVAC systems. We have increased the amount of fresh outdoor air being drawn into the school through these systems. We have replaced our HVAC filters with recommended MERV-13 filters to provide enhanced filtration of particles from recirculated air. Two new Heat Recovery Ventilator (HRV) systems have been installed in Canada Hall to increase ventilation rates. And air purifiers will be used throughout the school for further room-based filtration.

Our Senior School site will have MERV-13 filters in its HVAC system and HEPA-filter air purifiers in both the main classroom and the office.