Surrey schools mandate masks for all students

SURREY (NEWS 1130) — On the heels of the Vancouver School Board moving to require masks for all students attending classes, the Surrey Board of Education is taking a similar step.

The province requires all students in Grades 4 to 12, as well as all staff and visitors to wear face coverings in indoor areas. But with a move from Surrey, starting Monday, Oct. 4 face coverings will be required for all students from Kindergarten to Grade 12.

Surrey Board will require masks K-12 beginning Oct. 4th. Partnering to host vaccine clinics, increase access to testing and working to improve notification processes. https://t.co/kuJf1KrlGO thx to @Fraserhealth MHO for meeting with Board. #sd36learn @CityofSurrey @whiterockcity pic.twitter.com/PfoKn0409S

— Jordan Tinney (@jordantinney) September 30, 2021

Surrey Teachers Association President Matt Westphal is applauding the move, adding younger students have always been capable of wearing the masks without it negatively affecting their learning.

“You know, who’s not saying that younger children are not able to wear masks? it’s the people who actually work with them,” he told NEWS 1130. “They’ve been encouraging them to wear masks, and many of them do. I think we’re not giving young children enough credit. They can do this and adapt to it if they aren’t doing it already. So I don’t see there’ll be any problems from that perspective, it could be that some parents may object, but that’s something that school districts are going to have to deal with.”

Related Articles: 

• Vancouver school board makes masks mandatory for all students

• B.C. teachers renew call for mask mandate for K to Grade 3 students

• Parent advisory councils push for mask mandate as COVID-19 fears mount

Westphal says he expects other districts to follow Vancouver and Surrey’s leads because otherwise, they will need to “come up with a very good reason not to.”

“It’s not an answer to say that young students can’t wear masks because we know that they can. And it’s also not an answer to say it’s not going to make a difference to transmission because we know what masks do. So I definitely hope that other districts will not wait long before doing the same.”

Mandating masks for all grades is particularly important in Surrey to Westphal since the city was heavily impacted by the virus in the last school year.

Surrey’s Board of Education also says it intends to work with Fraser Health on the possibility of setting up vaccine clinics at schools, while also sending symptomatic kids home with at-home COVID testing kits.