A recent survey of Richmond teachers showed many are worried about bringing COVID-19 home to their families.
Nearly 76 per cent of respondents to a survey, conducted by the Richmond Teachers’ Association (RTA), said they are worried about bringing the virus home to their families, and about 63 per cent said they are often concerned and anxious about their health and safety in school.
When it came to health and safety in schools, nearly 54 per cent of the teachers who responded to the survey said they were not confident in the provincial government’s protocols.
Suggestions from teachers included a mask requirement, reducing class density and limiting “cross-cohorting.” Teachers and educational assistants should be assigned to only one cohort, according to the survey report.
Just over 23 per cent said they were confident in B.C.’s health and safety protocols.
The survey also revealed teachers want more prep time for remote and in-person learning during the COVID-19 pandemic.
While nearly 43 per cent of respondents said they felt their workload was manageable, teachers said the transitional learning program for elementary students is “a significant workload concern, despite the reduction to two check-ins per week,” according to the RTA survey report.
“Elementary teachers have too many roles to cover in the current cohort structure.”
At the elementary level, teachers said they want more preparation time to plan for cohorts and a decrease in reporting demands.
There should also be designated teachers to support at-home learners, the survey found. For example, teachers who are unable to work due to health reasons could teach transitional learners.
Teachers also expressed “significant concern” that there aren’t enough supports in place for students and their families at home.
At the secondary level, teachers said the pace of the quarter system adds a “significant” daily planning workload, and asked for a transition day between quarters and reduction in reporting demands.
Teachers also said that multi-grade classes should have the same schedule as Grades 10 to 12, and the “insufficient instructional time” for those grades should also be addressed.
Communication about COVID-19 exposures in schools should also be faster, according to the survey, with an early notification sent out once a school has been informed of a positive test result.
Teachers also said they want to be part of contact tracing, as they “know the close contacts and movement of students.”
Richmond teachers also want the RTA and BC Teachers Federation to push for a mask policy, vaccine priority for teachers, and address workload and classroom density concerns, according to the survey.
Richmond Teachers Association (RTA) conducted the survey about teachers’ experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic, between Jan. 13 and 19. In total, 694 teachers – out of the approximately 1,600 RTA members – responded to the survey.
The RTA will be presenting the survey results to the Richmond Board of Education at Wednesday’s board meeting.
