Happy New Year Everyone,

With apologies for interrupting your holiday, the following communication is being sent to all staff to provide important information regarding expectations for return to work on Monday, January 3, 2022. (This will be reissued by numbered memo on Monday).

Yesterday the Ontario government made announcements regarding updated medical and public health requirements that will significantly change the way that we manage COVID-19 moving forward.

More information regarding these changes will be provided in the coming days. Of particular interest for our staff in Durham Catholic at this time, is the return to school/work next week.  In accordance with the government announcement, staff will be expected to return to work on Monday, January 3, 2022, and students will be returning to school on Wednesday, January 5, 2022.

To reduce/limit the spread of the virus, in addition to the enhanced layers of protection (outlined below), as a Board we will be implementing temporary work from home options for some employee groups who are able to complete their duties safely and effectively from home.

Work Expectations by Employee Group

Employee Group/Role	Directions for Return to Work
School Administrators School Administrative Assistants School Custodians Maintenance Staff	Return to work on site on Monday, January 3, 2022.
Senior Administration and Executive Administrative Assistants	Return to work on site on Monday, January 3, 2022.
Elementary and Secondary Educators (Teachers, DECEs, EAs, Chaplains) facilitating in-person and/or hybrid learning.	Option to work from home on January 3 and 4, 2022. Detailed expectations regarding work/tasks to be completed on these days will be sent in a separate email. Attendance at a virtual staff meeting as scheduled by school administration will be required. *If you intend to come to the school on January 3 and/or 4, please inform your Principal via email and follow all health and safety protocols while in the building. Return to work in person on January 5.
Elementary Virtual Learning Educators (Teachers, ECEs and EAs)	Option to work from home on January 3 and 4, 2022.  Detailed expectations regarding work/tasks to be completed on these days will be sent in a separate email. Attendance at a virtual staff meeting as scheduled by school administration will be required. *If you intend to come to the school on January 3 and/or 4, please inform your Principal via email and follow all health and safety protocols while in the building. Option to continue to work from home from January 5 onward, until further notice, conditional upon the approval of the Principal and standard requirements (i.e., wifi connectivity, private space, etc.) are in place.
Student Services Personnel	Option to work from home on January 3 and 4, 2022.  Detailed expectations regarding work/tasks to be completed on these days will be sent in a separate email. Attendance at a virtual staff meeting as scheduled by the Superintendent will be required. *If you intend to come to the office on January 3 and/or 4, please inform your immediate supervisor and follow all health and safety protocols while in the building. January 5, 2022, onward – all student support work will continue in person on location.  Virtual meetings and report writing may be completed from home conditional upon defined parameters, direction and approval of supervisor/manager.
CEC Office Staff and Central Personnel	Work from home at direction of department Superintendent/ Supervisor. Attendance at a virtual staff meeting as scheduled by the Superintendent will be required.

Health and Safety Measures
As we return to work, all staff must be vigilant in implementing the layers of protection that have been established including but not limited to the following:

• Reinstitution of the requirement for staff and students to confirm self-assessment daily.  The self-screening tool is being updated by the Ministry before Monday to reflect a revised list of symptoms and the updated self-isolation protocols (see below).
• Non-fitted N95 masks have been ordered for all staff and will be distributed as soon as they arrive.  In the meantime, level 2 medical masks continue to be the standard by the chief medical officer and should be worn at all times. Staff who have their own N95 masks are permitted to wear them until the Ministry provided supply arrives. (Please remember to wear masks properly over the mouth and nose and only remove masks when eating while seated and physically distanced from others)
• Eye protection (goggles or face shield) should also be worn at all times.
• Hand sanitizer should be used before and after the use of any shared equipment (ex. Photocopiers)

Covid Screening and Absence Reporting
Human Resources will be providing more information on absence reporting in the coming days.  Under the new public health guidelines, if you are experiencing at least one of the common symptoms of COVID- 19 or two of the less common symptoms, you and all members of your household must self-isolate.  If you are fully vaccinated (two doses) your period of isolation will be five days (provided your symptoms are improving).  Individuals who are not vaccinated and experiencing symptoms will be required to self-isolate for 10 days.  The new symptoms list and guidelines will all be incorporated into the revised self-screening tool.

Sincerely,

Tracy Barill
Director of Education / Secretary-Treasurer
Durham Catholic District School Board