‘Learning groups’ scare teachers

Organizing students and staff into “learning groups” to limit the potential spread of COVID19 in schools will be a logistical nightmare, the head of the Okanagan Skaha Teachers’ Union warned Wednesday after the B.C. government announced its school restart plan.

“My concern with the government’s plan is it downloads all the responsibility to the districts,” OSTU president Kevin Epp said Wednesday.

Students are set to return to classes full-time in September, but in so-called learning groups of 60 kids in elementary and middle schools, and 120 in high schools.

What that means for a school like Pen-Hi and its roughly 800 students, said Epp, is reworking kids’ timetables to make sure their classes – some of which run for part of the year and others for all of it – are still available to them. “It throws a lot of wrenches into the works,” he said.

Adding to the challenge is the time of year: Many administrators are on summer holidays and won’t return to work until mid-August.

Epp acknowledged most of the rescheduling will be done by administrators, rather than teachers, but said his members are wary about a government plan that includes so few details.

He was also critical of the $46 million the B.C. government announced it will distribute to districts for things like labour costs for additional cleaning and installing hygiene stations.

“Yes, $46 million sounds like a lot of money – and in my bank account it would be – but spread across a $5-billion education budget, it’s not a lot,” said Epp.

However, the union leader also pointed to the planned resumption of in-class learning as bright spot for teachers and students.

“Every message I’ve heard since the pandemic began is – and it’s sad it took a pandemic to prove it – nothing can replace in-room instruction,” said Epp. “That’s the exciting silver lining in this cloud, I guess.”

James Palanio, chairman of the Okanagan Skaha school board, confirmed it will be a “struggle” for administrators to get their plans together in what will essentially be a 16-day window, because the government isn’t giving districts the framework they need to follow until Aug. 10.

“It’s going to be tough,” said Palanio, “but we’ll get it done.”

As with Epp, he was pleased to learn the B.C. government intends to reopen schools full-time in September, although parents have been told to have a backup plan in place just in case.

“I’m glad that they’ve got a strategy going forward, and I’m glad that it includes all kids going to school,” said Palanio.