BC minister of education Rob Fleming said it’s against health guidelines to allow students back into classes on September 8 like other years, and an announcement will come in a few days on details of schools reopening.
“Previously students would come back into class, usually with their previous year’s teachers, and wait a few days for school to be organized for the coming school year,” Fleming said in the legislature. “We can’t do that in a pandemic. That would not be in compliance with the BCCDC guidelines.”
The Ministry of Education announced in late July that most students would be back in classes after Labour Day but several groups, including the BC Teachers’ Federation and BC Principals’ and Vice-Principals’ Association (BCPVPA), asked for the start to be delayed.
Darren Danyluk, president of the BCPVPA, said if students and staff all arrive on September 8, they won’t necessarily have been briefed in COVID-19-related safety protocols.
He added it could prove to be “very challenging” if there is no time before September 8 to plan how to restart school during a pandemic.
“If we don’t get together as a team beforehand, how do (teachers) know their tasks, their roles,” said Danyluk.
Fleming said the announcement coming in a few days will outline what September 8 will be like for support staff, administration and teachers to make sure students are “organized into the classes where they will be with their peers in a unit that is designed to limit the student interactions.”
“If that takes some extra time and builds additional confidence and fulfils the guidelines that have been developed by Dr. Bonnie Henry and her team,” he added, “that’s what we’re going to do in the province of British Columbia.”
