EXCLUSIVE: VDSC, DPAC, raise concerns over return to school amid Omicron surge, seeking more information from VSB
As the Vancouver School Board prepares for students' return on January 10, the district's parent and student representatives say they need more information on how officials plan to keep everyone safe.
Both the Vancouver District Students Council and District Parents Advisory Council agree with the Ministry of Education's decision to extend Winter Break, but have a series of questions and concerns they say the local school board needs to address.
In an email, Tommy Chung, VDSC Co-President, speaking on behalf of the body's executives, said the VSB should make N95 masks available to staff and students, as some schools' ventilation systems are inadequate to protect against the highly transmissible Omicron variant of COVID-19.
The BC Teachers Federation has also issued a similar call for N95 masks to be made available to all staff and students.
In recent weeks, epidemiologists and public health officials have cautioned that the widely used cloth and blue-colour surgical masks may not be enough to protect individuals from the Omicron variant, pointing to N95s as a safer option. In an interview with CBC, Public Health Agency of Canada Chief Dr. Teresa Tam echoed these statements, recommending people wear three-ply surgical masks at the minimum, if N95s are unavailable.
The Ottawa Citizen reported on December 28 that according to one of the province's public educators unions, Ontario officials promised teachers N95 masks in January. The surge of COVID-19 cases brought on by the Omicron variant was cited in the Ontario Ministry's decision to upgrade educators' mask provisions.
Crowding in hallways, particularly during breaks, was a concern raised by the BC Ministry of Education and is shared by VDSC. Chung said the district students council is seeking clarification from the VSB on how they intend to effectively reduce congestion in buildings.
VDSC said they are also concerned for students' schedules and continuity of learning.
“Will they be implementing the cohort system we utilized during the Quarter System?” Chung asked rhetorically, going on to say that "students made it evident that it was extremely flawed," according the information collected through district surveys and stories from constituents.
With secondary schools' first semester of the new semester-schedule system due to finish January 30, it remains unclear what the loss of one of the four remaining weeks in the term will mean for nearly 20,000 district high schoolers.
January is also a critical time for senior students making decisions regarding their post-secondary plans, with applications for many colleges and universities due during the month. It isn't currently clear if the extension could complicate that process.
DPAC Chair Gordon Lau directed The Nest to Vice-Chair Vik Khanna’s Twitter statements when asked about the council's early thoughts on the return to school plan.
Khanna stressed the need for more details regarding safety measures, again, mentioning lunch as a troublesome time for supervision and mask wearing.
Statements posted to the BCTF’s Instagram account say mask compliance is an issue across all school districts, but don’t mention specifically who is responsible for creating those compliance issues.
Khanna said students living with immunocompromised individuals should have “more robust” online learning opportunities made available to them.
In the 2021-22 school year thus far, learning has been full-time in-person with no online component.
"Parents want to know how COVID notifications will work," Khanna wrote, saying DPAC and the VSB will work together to "find out what criteria" will trigger COVID-19 exposure notifications "so parents can make informed decisions."
COVID-19 exposure notifications have been a controversial issue in BC, with many parents and education advocacy groups saying the province needs to do more to inform communities of cases and be more transparent about transmission around schools. Health officials say privacy is one of their major concerns in making school-specific case information available, and that the public and parents are well-informed.
Emphasizing the already present teacher on call shortage, Khanna stated that it “seems odd that a prioritization of a booster for school staff and teachers is not happening.”
The high risk groups that have been prioritized over the past few months have been those living in remote Indigenous communities, frontline healthcare workers, those over the age of 60, and individuals who are pregnant.
Though, Dr. Penny Ballem, Executive Lead for B.C.'s COVID-19 immunization efforts, announced on December 31, that starting in the new year BC will pivot to an interval-based approach. Through this approach, individuals regardless of age will be invited to book their booster shot after a minimum of six months since receiving their second dose. No specific mention was made about prioritizing staff working in schools.
Canada's National Advisory Committee on Immunization has also made no specific mention of school staff in their December 3 guidance on boosters, but has strongly recommended adults over 50 be prioritized, and issued a discretionary recommendation for adults 18 to 49 to receive their booster 6 months after their second dose.
The Nest posed several questions to the Ministry of Education's Communications Director Sean Leslie, who said they would get back with answers next week.
The Nest also posed multiple follow up questions to the VSB since their December 30 letter to families, but has not yet heard back. More information from district officials can be expected next week as planning continues.