SURREY, B.C. -- A COVID-19 outbreak has prompted the closure of a Surrey elementary school for two weeks, and some believe that should have happened sooner.

Parents of Cambridge Elementary School students have received six letters informing them about exposures since mid-October, and on Saturday, the outbreak was officially declared.

“This could have been prevented weeks ago, and it's unfortunate that it has taken our poor music teacher to end up in the ICU for our voices to be heard,” said Wendy Reis, whose children attend Cambridge Elementary.

The music teacher, Darlene Lourenco, has been hospitalized since Wednesday. She remains in the intensive care unit, but her family said she is in stable condition.

Fraser Health said six others in the school have tested positive.

The closure did not come fast enough for Reis’ six-year-old son, who just tested positive for COVID-19 three days ago. She is unsure if her son is part of the seven included in the outbreak.

“I believe that as soon as somebody receives an exposure letter, they should be quarantining. They should be getting tested. I don't think that we should have to have symptoms to get tested,” she said.

Notably, her son displayed no symptoms, but he was tested because Reis and his sister were feeling unwell. All three got tested.

Reis and her daughter’s test results came back negative.

Since then, she’s taken the time to notify parents, because no exposure letter has been sent out about her son.

“I wanted the parents in my son's class to be aware that he could have possibly spread the virus to their children,” she said.

The president of the school’s parent advisory council said parents have expressed frustration and stress over the lack of communication from health officials.

“Communication, we feel, is lacking. It takes a long time for us to get any information. We don’t know where the exposure has happened,” said Rani Senghura.

In an email, Fraser Health said there is a “detailed, rigorous process” for contact tracing, in which they have a triage system for identifying those most at risk.

“In light of the increased number of cases we are seeing in the school environments, we are working to further streamline our process to ensure parents and students are contacted as quickly as possible,” the email reads.

Senghura said when classes resume later this month, parents would like to see new measures implemented.

“Close the school down, but there has to be change. There has to be change when they come back,” she said.

Teachers also want to see changes, including a firmer stance on mandatory masks and smaller class sizes to maintain physical distancing.

“I think what they would like to see when they come back is some assurance that the problem is under control,” said Matt Westphal, president of the Surrey Teachers Association.

He said there’s been a “one-size-fits-all approach” and health officials need to take another look to see what measures need to be made in schools where COVID-19 case numbers are high.

“I think the government really needs to think seriously about … is the current model really going to be workable, especially in hotspots such as Surrey and Fraser Health and Vancouver Coastal Health,” he said.

Fraser Health said it is taking every precaution to ensure the safety of students and staff at the school.

“We will be working closely with the Surrey School District and Cambridge Elementary School to review their COVID-19 prevention measures at this location. In collaboration with the school, we will be communicating with the school community when it is safe to return to school as the return date draws closer,” the health authority said in its email statement.

Two more schools in the Fraser Health region are closing because of clusters of COVID-19. Jarvis Elementary School in Delta has six confirmed cases and Al-Hidayah School in New Westminister has eight confirmed cases.

The health authority said the clusters have led to staffing issues, so the schools are functionally closed.

All three schools expect to reopen on Nov. 30.