BC teachers want smaller classes and a stricter mask mandate.

BC Teachers Federation President Teri Mooring, a former Quesnel teacher, says they see the need for more preventative measures in classrooms.

She says under the current plan students do not need to physically distance or wear a mask in the classroom…

“What we need to see is classroom density reduced so that physical distancing can happen inside classrooms, and when physical distancing can’t happen for masks to be required for students who are 10 years old and older.”

Mooring says they also want an option available for remote learning for students…

“We think is really important is an option for students who are medically complex, an option for them to engage in learning remotely while staying connected to their school.    We also see the need for accommodation for students who have a close family member who is medically compromised.   We think this can be accomplished by dedicating teachers specifically to remote learning.”

Finally, Mooring says they want the province to look at all of the school ventilation systems and HVAC systems…

“We know that, In Quesnel especially, there are some older schools there and we think the province should be dedicating some funding for the situations where those systems need to be improved, and we also think province wide there are definitely some systems that probably need to be replaced.”

Mooring says there is still time to make some changes to the current plans, something she says can be done through the steering committee and working groups which teachers are part of…

“We have lots of ideas about how that can be accomplished, we just need to continue that work at the work group level.   We’re concerned right now because we know that Districts are creating District plans and they need to be submitted to the Ministry for approval, and so we wanted to make sure that we express our concerns pretty clearly now, because we would hate for Districts to have to go back and redo any of those plans.”

Districts are scheduled to announce plans to parents and students on August 26th.