B.C.’s phased in return to school not good enough, says parent group

The return to school post winter break in B.C. has been delayed by a week, but that doesn’t go far enough, according to one parent and teacher group.

The Safe Schools Coalition says remote learning remains the safest option for students and staff amid the rapid spread of the Omicron COVID-19 variant, which has led to spikes in case numbers across the province and Canada.

Remote learning was not an option laid out by the province Wednesday, when Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry and Education Minister Jennifer Whiteside announced students would return to class in phases.

Most students will return to school on Jan. 10 — a week later than originally planned — while teachers and staff will return as initially scheduled on Jan. 3 or Jan. 4 to allow time to implement enhanced safety measures.

The children of essential workers, as well as those who need extra support, will also return to school on Jan. 3 or Jan. 4.

The Safe Schools Coalition says its members are disappointed with the plan.

“While a one week delay to the school year is a good start, schools should be remote until community spread is lower and test positivity is below 5%,” a statement from the group reads. “BC classrooms and schools need to use all the layers of protection to protect from an airborne virus.”

Prior to Wednesday’s update, the coalition released an open letter to Whiteside, calling for a list of steps to be taken in schools to keep teachers, staff, and students safe.

Open Letter to @JM_Whiteside:

With community transmission of #Omicron so high that @CDCofBC has lost capacity to keep track of #’s, #SafeSchoolsCoalitionBC is demanding immediate action for safer #bced.#BCedEnhancedMeasures

Read our letter here:https://t.co/u9uo4TOR85

— Jennifer Heighton (@jheighton3) December 29, 2021

Later in the day, the group noted several “layers of protection” were left out of the safety measures outlined.

For one, the Safe Schools Coalition says more needs to be done to address the state of ventilation in classes and schools. It also wants rapid tests to be used for surveillance purposes whenever a positive case is confirmed, N-95 masks to be handed out, lunch times to be staggered, and for class sizes to be reduced.

It notes there’s an “important tool missing in the current plan, the absence of which creates inequity, is support for families who are not deemed essential workers, and are thus required to keep their children home when the school year starts up again.”

Related articles: 

• B.C. schools to have phased return from winter break

• BCTF calls on province to step up COVID-19 measures in schools

• B.C. officials acknowledge record case counts don’t reflect ‘number of people who truly have COVID’

“Support for these families is necessary, in order for them to be able to keep their children home and protected, without facing financial hardship, while work is done to make schools safer,” the group says.

The group continues to call for a delay in return to school until transmission rates go down.

B.C.’s provincial health officer has said the province will be working with public health and schools to adjust its testing strategy and modify the public health notification process within schools.

Henry says the province is also working on more ways to track the impacts of the Omicron variant in schools.

-With files from Nikitha Martins