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Changes to B.C.’s school safety measures aim to make learning safer, said Education Minister Jennifer Whiteside.

Photo screen grab from Province of B.C. YouTube

B.C. alters school safety measures

By Richmond Sentinel

Published 10:46 PST, Thu February 4, 2021

Last Updated: 2:13 PDT, Wed May 12, 2021

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Masks are now mandatory at all middle and secondary schools.

Students and staff will now be required to wear non-medical masks in all indoor areas, including when they are with their learning groups.

However, there are a few exceptions:

• when sitting or standing at their seat or workstation in a classroom;

• when there is a barrier in place; or

• when they are eating or drinking.

Previously, masks were only required in high-traffic areas, like hallways and outside of classrooms or learning groups when safely distancing from others was possible.

For elementary students, wearing masks indoors remains a personal choice.

The updates, introduced by the province today, are part of ongoing work by the provincial education steering committee and are in alignment with provincial health updates. Updated guidelines for the childcare sector will also be made in the coming week.

"To make sure schools continue to be as safe as possible for students and staff as the pandemic evolves, we have worked with provincial health and our partners on a continuous review of the guidelines, adapting and responding when needed," said Education Minister Jennifer Whiteside. "We want students, their families and staff to feel confident with the safety measures in place. That's why we're making these updates."

Guidelines have also been strengthened for physical education and music classes. High-intensity physical activities are to be held outside as much as possible. Shared equipment or items, such as weight machines, treadmills or musical instruments, can be used only if they are cleaned between use, according to strict school sanitization guidelines. Students using equipment or playing instruments should also be spaced at least two metres apart and masks are to be used when singing.

The federal government announced $242.4 million in one-time funding for the 2020-21 school year, with the first half of the investment allocated in September. The second installment of this funding arrived on Jan. 29. The Education Ministry is allocating $101.1 million to school districts and $7.5 million to independent schools, and is providing school districts an additional $3.5 million to manage COVID-19 exposures in schools.

To support Indigenous learners, $8.2 million will go towards addressing learning loss and student health, technology for remote learning, education and mental health support, adapting classroom spaces and enhanced cleaning.

There will also be $900,000 allocated for six regional rapid response teams, one for each health authority and one dedicated to support independent schools, with representatives from both school and provincial health staff. These teams, announced by the provincial health officer, will continue to improve the speed of school exposure investigations, so health authorities can inform school districts and families more quickly.

Rapid response teams will conduct physical or virtual site inspections to ensure K-12 COVID-19 health and safety guidelines are being followed consistently. If there has been a significant exposure event or an in-school transmission, rapid response teams will be deployed to conduct a review and make recommendations, if needed.

School principals and vice-principals at each public and independent school are being provided with updated COVID-19 health and safety checklists to ensure they consistently follow provincial guidelines. Additionally, families in their local communities are reminded of the personal measures they can take to help keep schools safe.

School districts and independent school authorities will be required to confirm every school has completed the checklist and safety plans have been updated to reflect the updated guidelines by Feb. 26. All schools will also post updated plans publicly.

One of the most important factors to keeping schools safe is a daily screening for any COVID-19 symptoms, which is why daily health checks continue to be required. To support daily screening, a new K-12 health-checker app has been developed for students and their families and can be found at: www.k12dailycheck.gov.bc.ca. The app will allow people to answer simple questions every day. It will inform them if they can attend school or if they need to self-isolate and contact 811 to be screened for COVID-19.

The BC Centre for Disease Control also has a new website. It has information and resources about health and safety measures in K-12 schools, student and staff safety, and what happens when there is a COVID-19 case in school: www.bccdc.ca/schools.