Optional return to high school going well, trustee group says

It was a relatively easy decision for Dean McGee to send his children back to high school in Surrey on Monday.

Online learning has worked well enough at home, but the opportunity to return to something closer to “normal,” if only for a few weeks, was attractive.

“My kids are doing OK with their actual studies at home if

I’m right there to help them or if my wife is right there to help them, but they’re definitely missing the classroom component. Plus, we’re all ready to get out of the house a little,” he said.

“So, when I heard about two weeks ago that the plan was to start going back, we started looking into it and trying to find out exactly what that was going to mean.”

Two of McGee’s children were among thousands who returned to classrooms Monday for the first time since the pandemic forced schools to close in March.

Attendance is optional and with only a few weeks left before the end of the term, many are looking at this as a soft start to identify possible challenges ahead of a potential full return in September.

The provincial health officer, Dr. Bonnie Henry, said on Saturday that the reopening will cause some anxiety, but it will help the province plan for a larger restart in the fall. She urged those who do not feel comfortable to return to continue with online learning.

About 5,000 students, including the children of essential workers and those needing extra support, have already been attending school across the province.

Expanding to a much larger number while also continuing to provide online learning at home has been a significant job, said Stephanie Higginson, president of the B.C. School Trustees Association.

In the weeks since the health and safety guidelines were released, districts have had to find ways to make them fit into each school environment.

“It’s like a game of WhackA-Mole,” she said.

But with the first school day more than halfway through,

Higginson said she hadn’t received any reports of things going sideways yet.

The planning and preparation that has gone into reopening schools appears to have paid off, she said.

The biggest challenge is convincing families that it’s safe.

“What’s making international or national news isn’t necessarily relevant in B.C. because we’ve done so well,” she said.