Teachers being asked to return to classroom
Teachers in the Central Okanagan must return to schools at least one day a week, superintendent Kevin Kaardal says.
Having teachers in classrooms is part of preparations for the eventual re-opening of schools to all students, he said.
Teachers are continuing to receive their full salaries, Kaardal noted during a webcast Thursday.
“Employees are being paid and it makes sense that they have to be doing meaningful work, and sometimes that may mean they have to work from on-site, and sometimes that means they can work remotely,” Kaardal said during the webcast, hosted by Kelowna-Lake Country MLA Norm Letnick.
It’s currently unknown when schools will re-open to all students. Several hundred children, whose parents are essential workers, are able to attend elementary or middle schools.
While they’re at home, teachers are expected to be connecting with their students during the school closures in a variety of ways.
Some B.C. school districts have required teachers to come into schools, rather than work from home, even though the buildings have been closed to most students since mid-March, Kaardal said.
Having Kelowna-area teachers return to schools for at least one day a week, beginning next Tuesday, was “prudent” given uncertainties surrounding the date for a full school re-opening.
“Staff are going to have to return to school to deliver services at some point. That may be before the end of June, that may be in September, that may be in November, we don’t know yet. That will all depend on what the provincial health officer says,” Kaardal said, “so it’s only prudent for us to begin preparing for that. And we have all kinds of safety plans and our schools are safe places right now,” he said.
“We would like to make sure that staff have been on site at least one day in a week, that’s all we’re asking at this time, (and) have them do the remote learning that they’ve been doing from home, on site.”
Kaardal has said previously that there will be no automatic promotion of students to the next grade, and that end-of-year assessments will be made.
“There is not an instant promotion to the next grade,” he said in late March. “We’re only partway through this last term. . . Teachers will be providing quality learning. It will look different, but teachers will be assessing students’ performance and providing final grades for them, and a final report card.”