On Monday, December 5, the Calgary Catholic School District (CSSD) announced that due to a high number of illnesses across their schools, they will be implementing an 'llness Mitigation Plan' that will be in place until Christmas break. The plan has been dubbed as the 'Make it to Christmas' plan, as there are three weeks left until Catholic schools go on holiday break. 

Several Airdrie schools that fall under the purview of CSSD may be impacted by this, especially since CSSD has announced that if more than 10 per cent of students are absent, due to similar illness symptoms, then large group gatherings such as extra-curricular Christmas concerts will be postponed, recorded or moved to virtual. Currently, the CCSD Illness Dashboard lists St. Veronica school as one of those schools which has a 10 per cent student absence rate.

"To be proactive, when a school reaches 7-9 per cent student absenteeism of the total school population due to similar illness symptoms, principals are encouraged to re-evaluate large group gatherings such as pep rallies, liturgies, or assemblies. In cases like this, the principal will determine what is best for their school community," stated a new release from CSSD.

The Catholic School District underlined that they are continuing to follow Alberta Health’s recommendations for outbreak prevention, including encouraging others to stay home when sick and contacting parents to pick up children who attend school while sick, as well as hand-washing, and frequent cleaning and disinfection of high-touch surfaces. They also encourage the use of masks in large group gatherings.

"This includes Christmas concerts, athletic events, etc., at schools that are not above 10 per cent absenteeism."

There are 37 schools in the entire district that are listed as having high absentee rates that are at 10 per cent more. The district said it will re-evaluate the plan in January 2023. 

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