Abbotsford school windows bolted shut, union raising COVID-19 safety concerns

ABBOTSFORD (NEWS 1130) — The windows at an Abbotsford elementary school have been bolted shut, a move the head of the teacher’s union believes is linked to recent exposures to COVID-19 at the school.

A school exposure notice for Godson Elementary was posted by Fraser Health on Feb. 13, listing the exposure date as Feb. 8. Since then, additional dates have been added.

Abbotsford Teachers Union President Jennifer Brooks says one teacher is home sick with COVID-19, and an entire class is in isolation. She connects these exposures and cases to classes to one poorly-ventilated older wing of the building.

“This wing does not have HVAC. The teachers were very concerned about their air quality, and the ability to provide ventilation in these rooms. So they were using their windows,” she explains.

“It is an older wing and there’s lots of windows. So, they were opening the windows to get that fresh air in to provide that ventilation, in an attempt to, of course, keep the COVID-19 spread down, to limit transmissions or exposures, and to provide better air for both themselves as teachers and for their students.”

RELATED: Dozens of new COVID-19 cases, exposures reported at schools across Lower Mainland

According to Brooks, on a professional development day in late-January, this option was shut down.

“There was a crew dispatched. They came in and, and they did literally bolted or screwed shut some of the windows so they can’t be opened at all. Then they installed wooden blocks on the rest of the windows so that they were limited to a few inches,” she says.

“Up until the windows being shut, opening the windows was the one thing they could do to bring that fresh air in attempts to stay healthy and to feel safe. Limiting that has caused them increasing anxiety, stress. They were upset shocked.”

Brooks says her priority is the health and safety of students, staff, and families. She has taken her concerns to the district and says she was told opening the windows puts a train on the boiler, and the cold air is itself a concern.

The inability to open the windows is compounding the actual issue in the school, which is airflow.

“I think we need to work together to come up with a better plan for ventilation, and not limit the only conduit that you have. We hear there’s variants on the rise, and the concerns are not going away.”

Last month, the BC Liberals penned a letter demanding an update from the province on how much federal money has been spent on “vital ventilation system upgrades” since September. The BC Teachers’ Federation says not enough of the first installment of the $242.4 million went to ventilation, and asked the province to direct districts to prioritize these upgrades.