EXCLUSIVE: Letter Sent to Hamber Families, DPAC Still Has Major Questions For Health & Education Officials
JONATHAN HAYWARD/THE CANADIAN PRESS
UPDATED 11:56 AM JAN. 5, 2022: Added Comment from Hamber Administration
Letters sent to Hamber Parents and Guardians
In a letter obtained by The Nest, Eric Hamber Administration outlined the specifics of who can return to Hamber classrooms on January 4. The letter comes as the province and Vancouver School District grapple with a dramatic spike in COVID-19 cases that forced the Ministry of Education to extend Winter Break last week.
The letter, penned by Hamber Principal Ms. Marea Jensen and sent to families this afternoon, states that VSB schools will be open from January 4 to 7 to "provide support for students coming from vulnerable circumstances, students with special needs, and children of essential workers who require support.”
The letter defines essential workers as "those employed in Health and Health Services, Social Services, Law Enforcement, First Responders, Emergency Response, and those employed in K-12 education." Minister Whiteside delegated the task of determining who could return to schools before January 10 to individual school boards in her extension announcement last week.
In a January 5 phone call, Jensen said “vulnerable circumstances” means “anything that puts people at higher risk of harm,” which my include situations involving “poverty, limited access to stable housing, food,” as well as situations of family insecurity.
The letter conveyed the same message as previous VSB statements on safety protocols in schools. It shared that as a school “highly effective layers of protection” will be emphasized, including frequent hand hygiene, cleaning of high touch surfaces, daily health checks, directional signage, and outdoor learning whenever possible.”
In the letter, Jensen said all "Grade 8 through 12 Eric Hamber students coming from vulnerable circumstances and children of essential workers who require support are asked to report to the cafeteria to meet with Vice Principal Sonia Blair at 8:45 AM tomorrow morning."
Jensen also reiterated that no online or new instruction would take place throughout the week of January 4 to 7, regardless of whether students and their families decide to attend schools or not.
"Hamber Staff are hopeful over the weeks ahead that Hamber students can soon pick-up their classes and well-enjoyed extracurricular activities from where they were left off prior to winter break," she wrote.
Over the phone, Jensen said there is “not any expectation that the end of semester date would change,” but that teachers may make modifications to their curriculums. “Educators are looking at what are the essential learning outcomes for students,” she shared.
Jensen encouraged all students to “feel comfortable dialoguing with their teachers if they have questions or concerns,” regarding their courses.
DPAC still has major questions over plan to return to in-person schooling
As the January 10 general return deadline approaches, the Vancouver District Parents Advisory Council says they still have serious concerns regarding the safety measures being taken to protect in-person learners, even as certain students are due to enter classrooms within 24 hours.
In an email from Vice Chair Vik Khanna, DPAC shared an extensive list of draft questions they intend to ask the school board and/or Vancouver Coastal Health.
DPAC's inquiries include questions regarding the specifics of enhanced measures, what is advised for students who are immunocompromised, students living with immunocompromised persons, and students in multi-generational households, plans and recommendations regarding masks, rapid antigen tests, PCR tests, and quarantine policies, as well as the potentiality for "functional closures."
Surrey Schools superintendent Jordan Tinney told City News last week that his district is preparing for "functional closures", which he said is a situation where "a school can no longer run because it doesn't have the staff to supervise students or provide instruction.”
Tinney said functional closures are "almost like a snow day, where people can't get to school, we can't supervise children," and that they would be called when the district expects they will not have enough staff on a given day. After a closure would be announced, classes would be cancelled, staff would use the following day for planning, and schools would then switch to an online model for a period of 7 to 10 days.
The Vancouver School Board so far has not made any announcements related to functional closures, but Jensen acknowledged the possibility over the phone, saying that information regarding the specifics of a closure will be passed on to parents this Friday.
Khanna also inquired if the VSB has any plans for hybrid learning, where some students attend school in the morning and others in the afternoon. He mentioned the possibility of virtual learning as well, for students who wish to stay at home.
DPAC's queries come as Ontario announced today that they will move school online for at least two weeks, citing the chance of schools not being fully staffed due to COVID-19 infections.
Khanna has concerns around the difficulty of keeping proper ventilation in classrooms by opening windows, considering the recent cold snap, in which temperatures bottomed out at -15.3 °C on December 27.
DPAC said they need to understand how the VSB intends to communicate with families, saying "Vancouver DPAC's reach is far more limited than that of the VSB when it comes to reaching parents."
In December, DPAC advocated for the VSB and provincial government to take rapid antigen tests available to all students, writing in a December 13 email sent to Trustees that "similar-sized school districts across Canada" have implemented such measures. They cited the Hamilton Wentworth School District's provision of nearly 50,000 tests to students as a reference. Khanna made the email public on his Twitter account the day it was sent.
DPAC also asked the board in their December 13 email to release the results of its continuous air quality testing conducted on the district's 114 portables and repeated that request in their recent list of draft questions. They asked, "what did those results say and is the environment safe in VSB portables to mitigate against an airborne Omicron?"
The Ministry of Education's Communications Director Sean Leslie told The Nest that the Ministry would reply with answers to our inquires this week.
A spokesperson for the Vancouver School Board said staff are still in the planning phase and will provide information next week, after students return classrooms.