As of Monday, Oct. 4, all B.C. students from kindergarten to Grade 12 are now required to wear masks.
Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry and the province’s education minister made the announcement on Friday, Oct. 1. Henry said the order will be in place for the remainder of the school term “as one additional layer to help reduce risk of transmission in classrooms, in schools.”
The Sunshine Coast’s School District No. 46 (SD46) will be following the orders from the public health officer and Ministry of Education, superintendent Kate Kerr told Coast Reporter on the day of the announcement.
Previously, masks were only required for students from grades 4 to 12 and were encouraged for younger students. Students in kindergarten to Grade 3 will now also be required to wear masks when inside school buildings, at their desks and on buses. They will not have to wear masks when they eat or drink. There are some exemptions, including students who cannot tolerate masks for either health or behavioural reasons, and students who cannot put on or remove a mask themselves.
“Principals, teachers, and our support staff will continue to support students’ mask wearing through positive and inclusive approaches, so this will be done in a really mindful and caring way… knowing that some children will have exemptions, and building that positive culture of care within the classroom community and the school community to be OK with those exemptions,” Kerr said.
Sunshine Coast schools are already equipped to provide masks for all students.
The school district planned to send information to parents Friday afternoon. Any parents or guardians with questions or concerns can contact their student’s teacher, principal or the school district (website: sd46.bc.ca).
At the time, Kerr said she had not yet heard any responses to the new requirement from the community. SD46 contacted the presidents of both the Sunshine Coast Teachers’ Association and the Canadian Union of Public Employees, and both of the unions are in support of the order.
“It's our goal to provide a safe, healthy and supportive learning environment. And we continue to follow the guidance of the public health officer,” Kerr said. “They are the medical professionals, and we put our trust in them.”
More information about the public health order can be found at gov.bc.ca.
The change comes following mounting pressure on Henry and Education Minister Jennifer Whiteside from parents and the B.C. Teachers’ Federation to do more in schools to reduce the possibility of transmission of COVID-19, and to report possible exposures.
With increasing cases of COVID in children aged five through 11, who are not eligible for an approved vaccine, the teachers’ union has been advocating for a mask mandate for children from kindergarten to Grade 3.
“This pandemic continues to evolve and so do we,” said Henry. “We need to make changes to fit the situation as it’s arising. We know the COVID-19 virus is being transmitted more rapidly, particularly to those who don’t have the protection that vaccination offers. This extra measure adds another layer of protection as we navigate this phase of the pandemic.”
Before the provincewide mask mandate for the younger grades came into effect, school districts in Vancouver, Surrey and Burnaby had instituted their own.
With files from Cindy E. Harnett/Times Colonist
