Parents back teachers’ safety push
Campaign for strict mask rules, smaller classes picking up steam
Teachers are pressing the provincial government to commit to smaller classes and stricter mask requirements as schools prepare to reopen in two weeks, and parents are getting on board with their campaign.
The “Support B.C. Teachers” drive produced 9,257 emails to provincial MLAs over the weekend, according to the B.C. Teachers’ Federation, which organized the campaign.
“There is a need for preventive measures for students, like wearing masks and being able to physically distance,” said Teri Mooring, president of the BCTF. “If we don’t have that, classrooms are going to look much as they did before the pandemic, and that’s not adequate.”
Masks, however, are “at the bottom end of the scale of importance of things that can limit the spread of COVID-19,” Health Minister Adrian Dix said Monday.
“I think there’s a tendency amongst people to want to search for a silver bullet that we can easily do and then not have all the other things,” he said.
“The reality is we have to do all of these things, as well as the extensive contact tracing, the extensive work being done by public health with people to ensure that we don’t see further transmission of COVID-19.”
The BCTF is also concerned that the government is pushing too hard to get students back to class full-time, when distance learning options would make things safer for children and family members with health concerns.
“In the middle of summer, the ministry changed the stages and went with a 100 per cent return of all students, and that wasn’t the plan just a few days earlier,” said Mooring. “We see a need for more remote learning options. It’s going to take investment — in a pandemic there should be more investment.”
School districts across the province are required to publish a return-to-school plan online by this Wednesday, in accordance with the provincial government’s guidelines for student and employee safety.
But what those plans look like in practice will vary from district to district.
The details of physical distancing and class size will be determined by local authorities and schools, said provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry.
School districts are innovating to ensure that “our children get the education plus the social interaction of the school setting they need right now,” said Henry.
Elementary school learning groups — cohorts of students and teachers who can intermingle without masks during a given semester or school year — will be 29 or fewer in the North Vancouver School District, for instance, but as high as 60 in Vancouver schools.
North Vancouver will also keep senior high school students in relatively small groups of 30 for morning classes and 15 students or fewer for some afternoon courses that will blend in-person and online learning.
Surrey, too, will limit learning groups to 30 students and staff combined for Grades 10-12.
In Vancouver, elementary aged children will attend in learning groups of 60, while secondary grades will attend in cohorts of up to 120 students. Both limits are the maximum allowed by the province.
Under the provincial government’s back-to-school operational plan, “masks will be required for staff, middle and secondary students in high-traffic areas such as buses and in common areas such as hallways, or anytime outside of their learning group whenever physical distancing cannot be maintained.”
Masks won’t be required for students or teachers inside the classroom, but students are allowed to wear them if they wish. The school will provide masks on request.
Henry is reluctant to require children to wear masks in school for long periods of time, but supports their use where physical distancing cannot be maintained. Masks are not recommended for small children as they can lead to increased face and eye touching.
Vancouver elementary schools will stagger pickup and drop-off times, and the times for lunch and recess breaks. In addition to the installation of handwashing stations and enhanced cleaning, schools will employ floor markings and posters to manage traffic flow and promote physical distancing.
Surrey school district is implementing guidelines to ensure schools are healthy and safe, “under the advice of Dr. Bonnie Henry,” Surrey superintendent Jordan Tinney said in a video communique.
The goal is to provide full-time in-class instruction for all students and maintain senior students’ path to graduation with a diverse curriculum, he said. “We want as many children in school for the longest time possible.”