SCHOOL PLAN HAS FLAWS
All-day mask mandate, reduction in classroom capacity would help buttress public safety, Michael Taylor says.
I am by no means a public health expert. I am simply a concerned British Columbian and a secondary school teacher who, like many others, is trying their best to grapple with and make sense of the recently proposed backto-school plan. I recognize the limits of my knowledge on this topic, and have endeavoured to approach the health implications and public safety concerns of the virus provided by provincial health and public officials with humility.
Still, I, like many other citizens in this province, have become broadly informed enough to recognize that the proposed backto-school plan poses significant risk, not just to the safety of school staff and students, but to the safety of everyone in British Columbia given the nature of the virus.
Dr. Bonnie Henry and Health Minister Adrian Dix have been model leaders during this pandemic to whom we owe a debt of gratitude for their tireless work over the past several months. Yet, based upon their guidelines and safety standards for public settings, and when compared to the back-to-school plans of regions with similar infection rates, they have not erred on the side of caution when it comes to September’s back-to-school measures.
By not instituting an all-day mask mandate for upper-level elementary and secondary students, similar to Ontario and Alberta’s recent declarations, and by not reducing classrooms to a smaller capacity, they are putting the parents and family members of students, as well as youth themselves, and the larger population at undue risk.
This stance does not come from an alarmist perspective or from the desire to shrug one’s professional responsibilities. On July 31, I, along with a little over a dozen colleagues in my district, finished teaching our last day of in-person summer school to classrooms of no more than 15 students. Based on the distancing measures and cleaning protocols in place, it was an environment that felt comfortable and appropriate in which to teach. It was an optional decision
I took seriously with a pregnant wife at home.
In my recent conversations with other teachers, the overarching sentiment is that most would love nothing more than to teach students in a full-time in-person capacity, as online or partial learning takes most of the joy or thrill out of teaching. At the same time, the current back-to-school proposal falls short in the eyes of many educators on several key safety measures.
Beyond the anecdotes of those in our education sector, we should also take heed of plans implemented in regions or countries with similarly low infection rates, such as Denmark and Finland, who are doing more to ensure safety. Or look at the cautionary tales of regions such as Israel, whose back-to-school efforts were marked by increased infections as a result of ineffectual measures. Studies also continue to suggest that youth are effective spreaders of this virus.
Requiring students in Grades 4 and up to use masks, or mandating secondary students return to school on a two-day-per-week basis to ensure safe distancing protocols as Ontario has done, would come with relatively limited downsides.
While full-time face-to-face instruction is the gold standard, seeing students two to three days per week would be sufficient enough to maintain student engagement, build a sense of classroom community and connection, and allow for suitable peer-to-peer social interaction. The often fatal implications of COVID-19 provide a collective and moral imperative for us to undertake such measures.
Mandating masks in school or limiting the number of days students attend in person at the secondary level would also not have a negative economic impact, as most high school students do not require at-home parent supervision.
In school, we teach kids not just to be knowledgeable, critical thinkers and thoughtful learners, but to also be practical and prudent, and to not take unwarranted or undue risks. Although mandating masks in school would be a slight hindrance to social interaction, it would invariably model the importance of social responsibility, taking a public health crisis seriously and sacrificing in a small way for the sake of the common good.
Following my recent in-person summer teaching experience,
I walked away with several key learnings that will not likely come as a surprise.
Students often required reminders to socially distance, whether when correcting handshakes or with close face-to-face discussion.
Students often simply forgot, or needed reminders to take the protocols seriously. Nevertheless, the distancing measures, which included a maximum of 15 students per class, were a success and did seem to limit slip-ups. In many ways, I believe that students reflected the tone set by adults because of the program’s clear distancing measures that closely resembled the province’s existing virus guidelines.
Likewise, the visual cue of mandated masks, as well as smaller classes, and distanced seating arrangements would not only reduce the likelihood of virus spread, but would also set a strong visual reminder and precedent about the seriousness and importance of following safe practices during the pandemic.
As many have pointed out since the back-to-school rollout, the contradictions in the proposal are of note. Like many expecting parents, I have not been able to attend a health appointment with my pregnant wife since the start of this pandemic, yet it has been deemed safe for educators like myself to teach up to 120 students within the confines of a narrow classroom, where it is not possible to ensure that desks are six feet apart if class sizes are not reduced. Students and parents have similarly been asked to keep a two-metre distance at public parks and public settings all summer, but come September will no longer be compelled to do so while in school.
As British Columbians we have a lot of inherent trust in our public officials, something that has worked well for us during this crisis. However, I believe it is incumbent on each of us, from infectious disease experts to journalists to everyday citizens, to ask more questions of our public health officials. To inquire further about the decision-making process that led to this back-to-school plan. To ask what science led our provincial officials to decide masks should not be mandated in school and how so many of B.C.’S decisions contrast with plans such as Ontario’s.
Even if infection rates have been lower in our province, one thing we have all learned about this virus is to never underestimate it, and to always err on the side of caution. In order to do this, we should ask that an in-depth health review of the back-to-school plan be conducted.
Internet platforms are not designed to give us quality information; they are calibrated to maximize attention capture and corporate profit. The editorial role is now played by complex algorithms devoid of local context, culture and histories. Taylor Owen and Ben Scott
The current back-to-school proposal falls short in the eyes of many educators.