Heat Wave and Our BSD Schools

The following update is provided with information regarding the heat wave that Manitoba has been experiencing. Brandon School Division would like to reassure you that the health and safety of students and staff are first and foremost in our schools.  We follow the advice and guidance of Environment Canada, Public Health, and Workplace Safety and Health. The advice and guidance that we received and have shared with our schools, is to monitor students and staff, take rest breaks from strenuous activities, drink water when thirsty, wear lightweight, light-coloured, and loose-fitting clothes, and when outside work in the shade or limit exposure times to the sun.  Schools are making sure they are implementing all of these things including the reduction of strenuous activities, the use of water breaks, and using fans as necessary. Public Health has confirmed that fans are most effective when oscillating and, though still useful, will be less effective when the temperature is above 37 Celsius. Additional information can be found at Heat and Your Health (gov.mb.ca).  

This heat wave has affected our schools in different ways as some of our buildings have air conditioning and some do not. We have explored solutions to providing air conditioning to our schools.  One issue is the air systems that exist in the buildings.  Our buildings span over a century in age and as such they have very different systems in place.  When a boiler system is replaced, we work with the province to put in the infrastructure to handle air conditioning units.  Additionally, our buildings do not have the electrical capacity to accommodate multiple portable units.  The use of portable generators as an alternative power source was deemed unfeasible for the number of schools and rooms.  Any new additions or buildings generally have air conditioning in them. The result of the above factors is that we are not able to implement air conditioning in our schools without major infrastructure upgrades which are approved and funded through the province.  We continue to advocate for projects but we also understand that every division in the province faces the same issues that we are seeing. 

We have explored relocating classrooms to buildings in the city that have air conditioning.  There are logistical issues with setting up classrooms in buildings on short notice, the amount of space needed and transportation issues for the thousands of students that would need to be relocated. This includes the logistics if we were to change the school day to an earlier start and the impact on other childcare arrangements. 

We have considered closing schools.  We understand that not all families support the closing of schools.  While we are confident that families are concerned with the heat, we receive more concerns about schools closing as families depend on schools to remain open.  Knowing that each parent has a different perspective on weather related issues, we provide parent choice of whether their child should attend.  In this way, we honour each parent's perspective.  

Brandon School Division wants to acknowledge the concerns about the current weather and reassure that your child's safety is a priority for the Division.  Schools will be monitoring temperatures in order to rotate classes as necessary. We are following the advice and guidance provided to us and we have communicated information to all our staff including the information on the following BSD web page Heat Warnings & Weather Information (bsd.ca).  We realize that this may not be enough for some parents.  We support parents to make decisions that they feel are best for their situation.  Please note during this heat wave student attendance is at parent discretion.  Should you want to keep your child home please inform your school. 

Thank you again for your support of our students and schools.