Victoria – School is planned for a return next week,however the province’s top health and education officials revealed details of their back-to-school safety plan on Wednesday afternoon.
Education Minister Jennifer Whiteside joined the COVID-19 briefing alongside Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry and Health Minister Adrian Dix.
British Columbia Teachers’ Federation president Teri Mooring had asked the government to move classes online until at least January 10 in order to assess the impact of the Omicron variant on staff and students.
There will be a phased in approach to back to class in the new year. All schools will open on either January 3, as planned, for staff, children of essential workers and those with special needs.
A full return to classes for all students on January 10.
A recap from Jared Mumford, Board Chair, School District #33:
School will be open for all students January 10. (Some students with diverse needs and children of essential health workers may attend starting Jan 4, please contact your administrator.)The week of Jan 4 will be used by staff to formulate a plan for face to face instruction while adhering to an addendum to the k-12 restart plan. That addendum will include additional measures such as bell time staggering, moving meetings and assemblies virtual, reinforcing mask mandates, pausing extra-curricular sporting events, enhanced daily health checks and more. We expect to hear more from the Provincial Government over the next week regarding a re-working of the current contact trace & communication methods and rapid antigen testing. We appreciate your patience as we navigate these order to try and find a way to continue to keep staff and students safe at school while maintaining a continuity of learning.
VIDEO is below:
