A group of parents have petitioned the Richmond School District to continue with remote learning this fall in order to keep the COVID-19 pandemic at bay.
A petition with 677 signatures of Richmond parents was sent to the superintendent, trustees, the Richmond Teachers’ Association and the Richmond District Parents’ Association saying remote learning is “crucial to bend the curve and keep all Richmond residents safe and health.”
According to a directive from the provincial health officer, Dr. Bonnie Henry, and the Ministry of Education, schools will be back in session on Sept. 10 – teachers and other staff will return on Sept. 8 to learn how to implement health and safety protocols.
The province announced elementary students will be in “learning groups” of 60 and high school students in groups of 120 to limit their contacts.
“When the society is not ready to fully reopen, schools are not,” states the petition. “Parents and students should be given the option to continue remote learning at home.”
It is largely anticipated there will be a second wave of COVID-19 in the fall, and, in fact, numbers have been rising over the past week with 84 new cases announced on Friday.
In the preamble to the petition, the situation of Israel was cited – they re-opened schools but then were hit with a second wave of COVID-19.
The petition asks for parents to be allowed to choose remote learning for their students, claiming there are long wait-lists for distance learning.
Furthermore, the petitions cites health concerns and the fear that children will bring the virus home elderly family members.
As of last week, 113 cases of COVID-19 were detected in Richmond.
