Ensure you and your family are taking steps to stay healthy and reduce the spread of communicable diseases, including COVID-19.

Measures for protecting students, staff and families include staying up to date with vaccines, practising health awareness, and staying home when sick and unable to participate fully in routine activities.

For more information, check the Provincial Communicable Disease Guidelines for K-12 Settings, the Public Health Communicable Diseases Guidance for K-12 Schools, and the SD42 Communicable Disease Prevention Plan, or the provincial COVID-19 safe schools website.

The Maple Ridge – Pitt Meadows School District is committed to maintaining comfortable classroom environments for students and staff. While some schools and learning spaces in the district are well-prepared for warmer days, others face greater challenges and require more specific measures.

District and School-Based Measures

We have implemented district and school-based measures to manage classroom temperatures during periods of unusually warm weather. These include:

• Utilizing our existing airflow systems to expel hot air from buildings overnight and draw in cooler air, ensuring that we start each day with a comfortable environment.
• Monitoring indoor temperatures at all sites centrally and remotely. Our facilities staff can adjust the airflow intake as needed to maintain optimal temperatures.
• Providing our daytime staff and evening custodians with guidance on reducing heat buildup in our buildings. This includes closing blinds and window coverings, and minimizing the use of overhead lighting and heat-emitting electronics.

What You Can Do

When the weather warms, we each have a role to play in preparing ourselves and students. Here are a few key things you can do from home:

• Ensure your child is dressed appropriately for sunny weather, which includes lightweight, breathable clothing, hats, sunglasses, and sunscreen. Do keep in mind that indoor temperatures may be cooler than usual in the mornings, thanks to our overnight ventilation strategies.
• Encourage your child to stay hydrated. Send them to school with water bottles and include hydrating options in their lunches and snacks.
• If your child is particularly sensitive to heat, consider providing them with personal cooling tools (such as ice packs or handheld fans) that might help them stay cooler throughout the day.

If you have specific questions about your school, please reach out to your school principal. For more general information about sun and heat safety, visit https://www.fraserhealth.ca/health-topics-a-to-z/sun-safety.

The district has ensured that the heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) systems are operated and maintained as per standards and specifications for ongoing comfort for workers (as per part 4 of the OHS Regulation).

Schools with recycled/recirculated air systems had their filters upgraded to finer grain filters. The HVAC systems have increase air exchanges in compliance with ASHRAE and WSBC requirements. Air distribution is managed through building automation control systems.

A ventilation system overview for each site is available in the following document: SD42 Ventilation All Sites 2023

Ministry of Education and Child Care Requirement

In 2016, the Ministry of Education and Child Care mandated water lead content testing on all school district facilities. The requirement was to test all school district facilities once every 3 years, with a minimum of 1/3 of the school facilities in a school district’s inventory being tested each year. The results are submitted to Fraser Health and the Ministry of Education and Child Care, and appropriate mitigation strategies, including plumbing upgrades and flushing regimes, are put in place where elevated levels of lead are found.

SD42 Water Testing Program

In the 2024/25 school year, the school district updated its water testing program by adjusting the number of drinking water sources in its facilities. This new water testing strategy, which is also implemented in a number of neighbouring districts, ensures a more streamlined testing schedule, limiting annual testing only to water sources that are being used. Each facility will also have at least one designated water dispensing station, with the goal of increasing this number over time.

Learn more about the SD42 water testing program here: https://www.sd42.ca/testing-district-facilities/

In the Maple Ridge – Pitt Meadows School District, the safety of our students and staff is always our top priority. Our commitment to providing a safe and caring learning environment is captured not only in individual school codes of conduct, but also in a number of district policies, including Policy 9410 Safe, Caring and Healthy Schools, Policy 9415: Inclusive Schools, Policy 9420 Dangerous Weapons in the Schools, and Policy 9500 Suspension and Exclusion of Students from School. *

Visit the School Safety page for information about our School Safety Notification system, threat response processes, and more.