(Files by Brendan Pawliw-MYPGNow)
School has been in session for less than a week in BC and already a few cases of COVID-19 have been reported.
High schools in Delta, Surrey, and Castlegar detected cases leading to concerns from the BC Teachers Federation.
President, Teri Mooring would like to see the province take a cue from the School Trustees Association where start times should be staggered.
“Schools should be implementing schedules so that students don’t all show up at the same time so they don’t all get into the same entrance and it could mean that schools should hire additional supervisors to make sure that happens.”
In addition, Mooring would also like to see a more proactive approach from the Ministry of Education.
“And what’s particularly concerning about that (the early cases) is that we know there are not sufficient preventative measures in classrooms right now, there is no physical distancing and no mask policy that covers classrooms.”
“We are also concerned about school ventilation systems and whether they are up to standards and running adequately with the right filters.”
Mooring states they are also hearing the mask policy in place is not being enforced.
Janitorial staff is being faced with a heavier than normal workload leading to some classrooms not being cleaned.
In addition, Mooring is also of the opinion more remote learning options should be offered by the majority of school districts.
“And that would help with classroom density, I am aware that many districts do not provide remote options but there has been a real lack of provincial leadership around what an option like this should look like so that is something we are pursuing.”