Thursday June 17, 2021 | VICTORIA, BC [Updated at 8 pm]
by Mary P Brooke, Editor | Island Social Trends
The goal is to return students to the classroom as much as possible in September 2021, after a full year of schooling during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Based on the success rate of immunization with COVID-19 vaccine products in BC, a safe return to school is considered not only possible, but desirable in terms of social and economic impacts, as stated by both Minister of Education Jennifer Whiteside and Provincial Health Officer Dr Bonnie Henry today in a joint news conference.
There will be no requirement for cohorts (learning groups), said Dr Henry today. Mask-wearing guidelines will come before September, she said.
Getting back to a ‘new’ normal:
Families and business can get back to normal routines which will foster a stronger if not faster economic recovery, and students will learn better within classrooms, it was stated today by these officials.
Though ‘normal’ will be of a new flavour, different from pre-COVID. Dr Henry emphasizes that hand hygiene is ‘here to stay’, emphasizing the importance in helping to prevent the spread of many infections during respiratory season (including influenza and the common cold), of which COVID is now part of going forward.
Much of the return to ‘new normal’ is made possible by the continued strength of vaccination rates in BC (4,165,142 doses administered as of June 16, 2021 with 710,847 or 17% of those being second doses). Two doses of COVID-19 vaccine will be available to everyone 12 and older before the beginning of the 2021/22 school year as published in the Public Health Guidance for K-12 Schools: Outlook for the 2021-22 School Year today.
Daily health checks will still be required in the upcoming school year, as well as staying home when sick as “the most important ways to keep schools as low-risk settings for COVID-19 and other respiratory illnesses like colds and the flu”, it was stated by Dr Henry today.
The trustee perspective:
The hope is that September 2021 sees a return to a ‘new normal’ by way of a “thoughtful transition to a post-pandemic world”, said BC School Trustees Association (BCSTA) Stephanie Higginson today. She referred to health and safety measures as always needing to be a priority.
The BCSTA president feels that school districts “rose to the challenge (during the pandemic) because of how much we are about the students we serve”. Continuing to address her fellow trustees, she said that they can “be a sense of achievement at the efforts we took to keep kids in school during this very challenging year”.
The parent perspective:
The president of the BC PACs (parent advisory committees), Andrea Sinclair, today said “there is no substitute for the in-class experience” and that schools lend consistency to students’ lives.
She mentioned the breakfast and hot lunch school-programs that support children from some families. She said a return to schools will “help reinvigorate communities”.
Sinclair described the upcoming school year as “a near normal return to school” during which time people will “take their lead from the public health officer”.
Media sessions:
Today was a double-header for Dr Henry. In addition to this morning’s session focussed on schools, she also addressed the media at 3 pm along with Health Minister Dix to deliver one of her regular COVID-19 updates, with a focus on the continued success of BC’s immunization program.
This week has seen fewer new cases (7-day rolling average) then before the second wave that started in October 2020, though there are still 1,451 active COVID-19 cases in BC with 131 people hospitalized.
Teachers not present today:
The BC Teachers Federation (BCTF) was not part of the presentation today. Island Social Trends inquired with BCTF President Teri Mooring as to whether or not the teacher’s union was invited to take part in today’s call.
Mooring told Island Social Trends that a number of issues remaining outstanding that BCTF wants to see improved or acted upon for September 2021. That list includes:
- more funding for adequate ongoing cleanliness in schools (she feels today’s additional sum — one divided among the school districts — is really not enough),
- more funding for trauma-informed practice (not just for teachers “in front of students”, but also for superintendents, administrators, principals, custodial staff and education assistants, and with funding supplements for this throughout the year),
- more specific language about “health and safety and mental health principles” (not just words but also some specific guidelines or directives), more specifics on mask-wearing in schools come September; and
- continued funding and directives for remote learning to be continued into Fall 2021 as a safety net for those families who aren’t quite ready to send their children back to in-class learning in September (options are back to what they were pre-pandemic: online distance-learning, home-schooling, and in-class).
As well, she says BCTF wants to see how much progress has been made in August as to vaccination levels of youth ages 12 to 17, which now is only 50 percent, she said.
Mooring wants to see schools “thrive as they come out of the pandemic”, as opposed to just stumbling forward with hit and miss efforts. She is worried that some schools and district will fare better than others. She sees 2021-2022 as a “transition year from the intensity of the pandemic” to a post-pandemic better set of circumstances for schools where “children are educated in healthy and safe spaces”.
“Over time we do have an impact,” says Mooring about the BCTF organization. But in the pandemic there has been “an urgency that is not often attended to”, she said with regard to how the government has responded to the things teachers have been asking for. Some of the things government has done regarding schools and education during the pandemic have been more ideologically-driven than science-based, says Mooring, referring in particular to mask-wearing which came far too late in the game.
“There were some protective measures but they did it from a contact tracing perspective,” says Mooring. “Someone else without an educational lens is making those decisions.”
Today on their website and Twitter feed BCTF did post the government’s COVID guidelines for 2021-2021, and appear to be supportive of the directions proposed.
Today Whiteside said that teachers are part of the advisory group process that is informing public health and the education ministry as to advisable ways forward. The Minister of Education seemed surprised at the question and fumbled a bit to answer it.
For teachers in their careers, some may have had a harsh awakening about the requirement of being public servants, with some feeling unduly exposed to the risks of COVID-19 during the height of the pandemic. In fact, today BCTF President Teri Mooring said that a lot of distress was experienced by teachers during the pandemic, including having to cope with the reality of being frontline essential workers (not all teachers thought of themselves that way, Mooring told Island Social Trends today). She said that 80% of teacher reports impacts on their mental health compared to 40% of the general population, as revealed in a recent survey.
Financial supports in two parts:
The financial component of today’s Ministry of Education announcement was $43.6 million which is to be used “to support ongoing health and safety measures, First Nations and Métis students, mental health services, rapid response teams, and to address learning impacts to students”.
Of that $43.6 million, there is a one-time new component of $25.6 million in “pandemic-specific funding” which is identified as “to support necessary cleaning and disinfecting, hand hygiene for students and staff, to improve ventilation, and restock supplies of personal protection equipment (PPE)”.
The fact that the $25.6 million portion is called “one-time” and includes “necessary cleaning and disinfecting”, opens the question of how much cleaning and disinfecting will continue after the 2021-2022 school year. Even pre-pandemic, teachers around the province were expressing concern about inadequate cleaning in schools.
The difference of $18 million is “to address learning impacts”, said Whiteside today, adding that there is “some flexibility” as to how those funds will be used “to meet local needs”. She suggested those dollars provide “additional reserves” during the process of recovery.
School districts:
In BC there are 60 public school districts operating about 1,600 public schools. Each region and school district is presumably able to offer its own unique set of professional, recreational, and lifestyle advantages. Realistically, location as well as cultural and financial factors of surrounding neighbourhoods do make a difference among school districts in how they deliver their public education service to families in the province.
West shore focus:
In Sooke School District 62 (SD62) on the west shore of Vancouver Island, additional government funds (both federal and provincial) were used during the COVID pandemic for enhanced cleaning (including custodial wages), as well as attending to some improvements in building ventilation systems and also Internet technology supports for students studying remotely from home. There were actually savings in terms of less money being spent on teacher benefits (such as dental appointments and massages).
The new funding announced today “is great news” as SD62 was “not anticipating any funding”; what the dollars will be spent on will be determined how much is received (each school district will receive a portion based on student population).
The timing of the new funding is helpful because SD62 leadership is working on timetables now for Fall 2021.
Success in BC for schools:
“B.C. is one of the few jurisdictions that has kept schools open all year despite the pandemic, thanks to the enormous collective efforts of everyone in the K-12 education system, and I extend my heartfelt thanks to them all,” said Jennifer Whiteside, Minister of Education.
“We will continue to work with the experts in the provincial health office and our provincial K-12 education steering committee throughout the summer to finalize plans and guidelines to ensure students and staff are safe for the next school year.”
The push to in-class learning:
Despite the reliance on remote technologies during the pandemic which made remote learning possible for most students, the BC Ministry of Education is pushing for a return to in-class learning as the standard and norm.
Reasons are given as the overall stability of economy and society, but also that apparently most students learn best in the in-class environment.
Put simply, it’s also just a lot easier to organize, manage and maintain.
Mask-wearing:
The wearing of masks in-class will be determined before the fall, Dr Henry said today. Despite that many people have found them to offer safety, Dr Henry reverted quickly back to verbage from early in pandemic, saying masks are “the last line of defense… mainly to keep from spreading droplets”.
Not spreading droplets seems pretty important, even if people in any given situation are vaccinated, so it will be interesting to see where this piece of public health policy falls (influenced largely, no doubt, by social cooperation).
