Ministry: ‘Staggered Opening” Of Schools
The Ministry advised “that there will be a staggered opening of schools” with some preschools set to open tomorrow, seven primary schools to “open for specific classes,” while “middle and senior schools, DAME and Success Academy will not be ready to receive students tomorrow.”
A Government spokesperson said, “We are pleased to report that an overwhelming majority of staff participated in PCR testing in preparation for the return to work on the 4th January, 2022; however, we still have staff who are waiting to receive their test results.”
The Acting Minister of Education Tinee Furbert stated, “First, I would like to thank all of the parents, teachers and staff that have done their best to get tested in time to be ready for school. I want to also thank the staff at MDL who are working tirelessly to get all the tests done and results back in a timely manner.
“Unfortunately, there are still a number of schools that have not had adequate teachers cleared for resuming in-class teaching for Wednesday. With results continuing to coming in, there are also students who have yet to be cleared for in-class learning.”
“Based on the data that we have received up to 4:00 pm today the following schools have been cleared to open on Wednesday, January 5th 2022:
Preschools
- 1. Lyceum Preschool
- 2. St. Paul’s Preschool
- 3. Southampton Preschool
- 4. Prospect Preschool
“The remaining preschools, other than Lagoon Park and St. David’s preschool will be receiving class groups of student starting tomorrow. Parents will receive an email advising which classes will start tomorrow.
Primary Schools
“Seven of our primary schools will open for specific classes tomorrow. Parents and guardians of those seven schools will receive an email with information about the specific classes that will return tomorrow:
- 1. Northlands Primary [5 Classes]
- 2. St. George’s Preparatory [5 Classes]
- 3. Gilbert Institute [2 Classes]
- 4. West End Primary [4 Classes]
- 5. Purvis Primary [8 Classes]
- 6. Somerset Primary [5 Classes]
- 7. West Pembroke [7 Classes]
“Other primary schools will open as they reach the appropriate staffing levels.
“Middle, Senior Schools, Dame and Success Academy
Our middle and senior schools, DAME and Success Academy will not be ready to receive students tomorrow based on staffing levels.
“MDL has reported that all negative results for teachers and staff testing on 2nd January, have been sent. All teachers and staff who have received negative results, to date, must report on site to work on 5th January, 2022.
“Once the Ministry has received additional data for staffing levels they will be able to communicate the additional classes and schools that will be open.
Minister Furbert stated, “It is important to us that children can return to in person-learning. While these outcomes are not what we would have liked, those who can be in school will be in school. We ask for understanding, cohesiveness and patience as we navigate through re-opening of schools as this is a fluid process.
“We again extend thanks to the Molecular Diagnostic Lab staff for their Trojan efforts to process testing samples. We heartily thank all teachers, and staff who participated in testing in preparation for the return to work on January 4th. We also thank parents for ensuring their children were tested in preparation for the opening of schools on January 5th.”
“The Ministry would like to remind parents that students returning to school will operate under PHASE 2 protocols which can be found below [PDF here]:
You can find more information on the links below from our dedicated website BermudaCovid.com, which is the most comprehensive resource and historic record available of Bermuda’s handling of the pandemic.
- All Charts: Vaccine, testing & more here
- Timelines: Dates of major developments here
- Test results: Chart of testing stats here
- Vaccine: Data covering vaccinations here
- Dedicated website: BermudaCovid.com
Ms Furbert, you had the best part of 3 weeks to get this right and you failed. Think the private schools will be having staggered starts? No, me neither.
Let’s put the blame where it belongs, on the B.U.T.
See https://bernews.com/2021/12/testing-bermuda-teachers/
In fairness she’s only a Acting Minister. In her position she can only carry out the last Minister’s plans. Diallo Rabain likes to run from us teachers all the time when he has no chalk to write on the boards.
This is disgusting.!MOE and BUT should
Be ashamed of themselves !! I have lost faith
Why is it that Success Academy, basically the smallest school on the island, is one of the last ones to open. This happened last time. Even though a wattsapp message was sent this evening by the head saying school was going in t9 or row. Sad situation for our children and yes of course the private schools will all be in with classes as normal
Dame was supposed to be prioritized, as the kids there get therapy not available at home. How was this failure allowed to happen?
The only thing staggered here are parents at the ineptitude of the Government and the public school sector.
How can private schools get it right? They don’t suffer from laziness of teachers, the BUT and a joke of an education secretary who is off island.
And who suffers? Your kids, your grandkids. You voted for this lot.
This was expected. Why not just revert back to remote learning until the positive cases go down?
Proving that the last thing the BUT and Furbert care about is the welfare of the children.
Its really not her fault though. She is only following directions that she is given as she is the acting minister of education she cant change the plan.