SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - Following a briefing from an Alberta emergency consultant, Yk Education District No. 1 and the Yellowknife Catholic Schools Board will coordinate their resources and know-how in the event of a severe pandemic.

Vincent Rogers, a labour relations consultant from the Alberta School Boards Association is visiting with superintendents from Yellowknife's school boards in order to help them prepare for a possible pandemic. - Charlotte Hilling/NNSL photo

Vince Rogers, from the Alberta School Boards Association, was in Yellowknife on Monday and Fort Smith Tuesday, advising Yellowknife's school boards and the territories superintendents on how best to deal with an emergency affecting schools – specifically a severe H1N1 pandemic.

"There's nothing magic about the plan, except getting people to think through emergencies and figure out what we're going to do," said Rogers.

"We should be coordinating some of our emergency responses," he added.

He said in the event of a severe pandemic, schools may have to pool their resources.

"It could be that one school in particular or one area has an extraordinary amount of cases... Could teachers and students be moved down to another school? That's a possibility. But that's a decision that would have to be made at the time," he said.

Mel Pardy, Yk1's Assistant Superintendent, said both boards had talked after Monday's meeting, and some level of cooperation was in the works.

"This right now is an attempt to have a coordinated approach and have something we're all on the same page with, with respect to all the boards in Yellowknife," he said.

"There's a bit of work to do, but I think we're on the right track ... We're almost at the point where we can put a draft together and cross-communicate between both boards and see where we go from there."

Isolations rooms in the case of students or teachers becoming ill at school are part of the Alberta School Boards Association's pandemic plan, but the measure is still being looked at by Yellowknife's school boards.

"All I can say at this point is, we're looking at it. Obviously you'll need a room, there's a whole bunch of logistics around it, but that's something we're looking at, both boards together," he said.

"With any pandemic you're putting things in place for different scenarios. You hope it never comes, but if it does you just need to be prepared."

However Pardy was quick to point out that the fundamental message about H1N1 remained the same.

"The message is pretty much the same as last year. If you're sick stay at home," he said.

Rogers agreed, saying, "We don't want someone coming in and making everyone sick, just because they feel a responsibility to come in when they're ill."

Rogers, a labour relations and emergency management consultant, is currently helping 37 school boards plan for a pandemic across Alberta.

The information sessions are the next step up from the school boards individual H1N1 action plans which focus on washing hands and staying home when sick, moving toward the logistics of dealing with a pandemic.

Advice on how to communicate effectively with parents, students and teachers in the event of high absenteeism was given, while the logistics of isolation rooms and maintaining payrolls was discussed.

"We're talking about a mild virus as we speak. The worry is if it does mutate and get worse, we need a plan to take care of that," he said.

Rogers was pleased with the attitude of the school boards following his Monday lecture.

"I can assure you, with the response I'm getting here, there will be plans in every school and letters out to parents very, very quickly," he said.