Surrey schools warn of potential COVID-related closures after return from winter break

Most K-12 students in B.C. will return to school a week later than originally planned, but the province’s largest district is warning parents to brace for potential school closures and a return to online learning if too many staff members get COVID-19.

Surrey Schools Superintendent Jordan Tinney shared an update with the community Thursday, outlining in a video what the district has been doing to keep students and staff safe.

As Omicron continues to spread across the province, Tinney notes the variant’s shorter incubation period has presented a new challenge when it comes to contact tracing. There’s also the strain on testing that needs to be factored in.

“The combination of all these things means that contact tracing is neither effective nor sustainable in the light of Omicron. That means our whole school notification process is going to be challenged,” he said.

“What we hear often from health [officials] is that Omicron is changed, the virus is changing, and we need to change as well. So one of the things just to put on your horizon is to be prepared. I know that our health and ministry people are working diligently in terms of what does this mean for notification processes, given all of these things about Omicron, and surely we’re going to be shifting to something quite different.”

December 30 Update: January 10 start date from Surrey Schools on Vimeo.

What exactly that looks like remains to be seen, Tinney adds, noting more details should be coming down next week.

As for the now-additional week leading up to the return to school, he explains the first day of work will be Monday, Jan. 3 for staff in Surrey.

He says that will be the first opportunity staff get to “sit and digest the new health orders.”

“The new health orders are designed to double down on what we know works for stopping the transmission within school. Many of these enhanced safety measures are things we’ve seen before, they’re things we were doing in September. Limiting gatherings, don’t have assemblies, do all meetings online, keep kids apart, use all classroom space to the greatest extent possible, no visitors. I don’t think any of these new enhanced measures will be unfamiliar to you,” Tinney said in the video posted online.

Students could return to online learning for days at a time

The remainder of the week will be used to plan for students’ return. It will also be a time used to prepare for “functional closures.”

Tinney explains that is when a school can no longer run because it doesn’t have enough staff to supervise or teach students.

“It isn’t necessarily an outbreak, it just means we can’t run. Almost like a snow day, where people can’t get to school, we can’t supervise children,” he said.

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If a school identifies a shortage in staff to the point it cannot operate, Tinney says a functional closure will be called. The next day, he says, will be used for planning, and the day following will be when learning will move online.

“A functional closure for our staff and for our families means schools are going online. For how long? We’re yet to get really clear direction on that but I believe it will be between seven and 10 days.”

The planning, which in such cases would need to happen at a moment’s notice, is not a small feat. Tinney says the bulk of next week’s planning will focus on this.

Most students in B.C. 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.