How does back-to-school meet safety protocols?

Iam a huge fan and deeply appreciate the sacrifices that both provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry and Health Minister Adrian Dix have made in leading us through this pandemic.

I know I am not alone when I express my concern for the rising numbers we are seeing and I appreciate the fine line we walk in reopening our economy and our lives.

I am a mother of two girls, ages seven and 13, who have thrived during the lockdown and adapted very well. However, as much as they have enjoyed the break from school, they miss their school community and are excited to return.

As an immune-compromised individual along with their father, we are not excited for their return to school and fail to see the logic and science that has been applied to warrant such liberal accommodations. We have heard again and again: No large gatherings, keep your bubble small, sustained indoor exposure increases your risks, wearing masks reduces the spread and social distancing reduces the spread.

So you will forgive me for failing to see how a full-time return to school with minimal social distancing and no requirements to wear masks is aligned with the scientific safety measures you have been imploring us as B.C. residents to follow.

Every year as children return to school, we see an increase in the transmission of our standard viruses.

It is most certain that within the first two weeks of return to full-time school someone in my daughter’s pod of 60 to 120 will contract and spread some version of the circulating viruses.

This will undoubtedly be passed to other children in the pod and brought home to their families. Will it be a cold, the flu, COVID-19? Only time will tell.

Will the pod be quarantined? How will the school communicate COVID-19 cases in the pod?

Will it be done in a timely manner? Will we have quick and easy access to testing?

In June, when my daughter presented with viral symptoms and the online COVID-19 checker told us to have her tested, we were shocked to be turned away by the doctor at urgent care in North Vancouver. His response was that kids under 18 are only being tested if they are sick enough to be hospitalized.

To say that we left dumbfounded is an understatement.

I realize school districts are scrambling to answer the many questions that parents, students, teachers and administrators have. However, to ask teachers to return to work and parents to send their children to school in less than a month’s time without appropriate safety measures is foolhardy and will have a ripple affect throughout our communities.

My daughters are not allowed to play soccer games in their league.

Many movie theatres are still closed. We are mandated to social distance in restaurants.

Stores are required to limit their capacity. So again, you will pardon me for asking how is it safe for students to return to full-time, in-person classes with no reduction in the number of students per classroom? With minimal social-distancing measures.

Is this a gamble we really want to take? Why now, with increasing cases, is it safe to jump into the deep end? Would a gradual and staggered start not be more prudent and aligned with how the province has governed and led through the pandemic to date?

I implore you to revisit your guidelines, to institute safety measures as other provinces have done and to apply the proven scientific measures we are applying in all other sectors of our society to our schools.

May our teachers be safe. May our administrators be safe. May our students be safe. May our families stay safe.