OTTAWA -- The Ottawa-Carleton District School Board says it had to close one of its schools temporarily on Monday because of a shortage of staff due to COVID-19.
In a statement to CTV News Ottawa, the school board said several staff at Pleasant Park Public School were told to self-isolate as part of a contact tracing investigation and the board could not get replacement staff in on short notice. The school is set to reopen Tuesday.
"In response to recent cases of COVID-19, we have worked through a detailed contact tracing process with Ottawa Public Health to determine high-risk contacts. Unfortunately, the list of high-risk contacts included a large number of staff members who are required to stay home to self-isolate," a statement from the board said. "Like other school boards, the OCDSB is facing a severe shortage of replacement staff. Given the inability to find enough replacement staff on short notice, we had to close the school to in-person learning today. The school will be open again on Tuesday."
The OCDSB's COVID-19 dashboard lists four active student cases of COVID-19 at Pleasant Park Public School. There are no active staff cases at the school listed on the board's website. Ottawa Public Health is not reporting an active COVID-19 outbreak at the school at this time.
The OCDSB says there are currently 47 known active cases of COVID-19 among its student population and 11 active staff cases. The board says it has more than 70,000 students and more than 9,000 staff within its district.
With files from CTV News Ottawa's Claudia Cautillo.
