Parents, students and staff will have a better idea next week of what “back to school” will look like during the COVID-19 pandemic, as school districts across the province face an Aug. 26 deadline to post their reopening plans. Those plans will incorporate the Ministry of Education’s operational guidelines but will also be tailored to suit the individual school districts.
The general direction, however, has already been set.
On July 29, the B.C. government announced most K-12 students would return to school full time in September and, in order to limit exposure, would be assigned to learning groups of about 60 for elementary schools and up to 120 for secondary schools.
Two weeks later, the province pushed back the planned Sept. 8 start date and announced instead a gradual reopening during the second week of September. (School District No. 46 has said students will be fully in session by Sept. 14.)
Then this Monday, under considerable public pressure, the government announced face masks will be mandatory in high-traffic areas like buses and hallways for all staff and students in middle and secondary schools. Exemptions will be given for medical reasons.
The latest change came one day before polling firm Leger released the results of a survey that found three-quarters of B.C. parents were worried about the upcoming school year and 63 per cent of B.C. students were nervous and anxious about going back – in both cases, the highest rates of unease in the country.
B.C. also had more parents than any other province – 36 per cent – who were undecided about whether to send their children to school. Along similar lines, an Insight West poll from last week found that B.C. parents who favoured exclusively in-class or online learning were evenly split at 27 per cent, while the largest group – 41 per cent – favoured a mix of the two.
While there are clearly many parents who would strongly prefer to keep their children at home, the province’s back-to-school plan doesn’t appear to be designed to accommodate their preferences. As SD46 superintendent Patrick Bocking wrote in his Aug. 13 update, the ministry has directed school districts to operate on the basis that “100 per cent of students will be welcomed back to in school learning. This means that ‘remote learning’ for students at home will not be supported in the vast majority of cases. Our staff will be fully involved in teaching students in school.”
We can expect more details next week on exactly what home learning options will be available in SD46.
One thing we hope to see in the plan is a creative and expansive approach to outdoor learning, something the federal government recommends for students of all ages. Unlike the rest of Canada, B.C.’s south coast has a climate that’s temperate enough for almost year-round outdoor classrooms, provided there is adequate cover from the rain. If the logistics could be managed, the safety benefits would be significant. And even parents with the greatest apprehension about sending their children to school would likely find it an acceptable compromise.
