In the event that COVID-19 is still impacting the 2021-22 school year, the new Superintendent for the Kamloops Thompson School District says she will be ready to tackle that challenge head-on.

Dr. Rhonda Nixon – who will be moving to Kamloops from St. Albert –  says she has been directly responsible for the COVID response plan at the Greater St. Albert Catholic School Division in Alberta.

“As Deputy Superintendent it has been my direct responsibility to organize contact tracing, reporting, and communication,” she told NL News. “We have surveyed our parents several times and they are very happy with our response.”

“Translating that experience to what you are going through in Kamloops, and in particular in B.C., what I’ve learned is that COVID knows no boundaries. It knows no holidays. It knows no set trajectories. We just have to be able to be responsive. We have to be able to be flexible.”

Nixon starts in her new role on July 1, and she adds the safety of staff and students will be her top priority.

“I feel very well positioned to work with our team at central office and in schools with our board of trustees and our partners to make sure we can engage in contact tracing, communication and reporting, that will put student safety first, staff safety first, and ease our parents minds that it will be safe in schools,” she added.

As of publishing, there have been nine COVID-19 exposures reported so far across the Kamloops-Thompson School District, four in the current winter term – two in Barriere and two in Kamloops.