This year, of all years, everyone needs to say thank you to teachers and others who kept schools in B.C. open throughout the pandemic.
As schools close for summer vacation, we all have to appreciate the personal risks that teachers took by entering their classrooms every day, and thank them for caring enough to do it.
“I think we can be very proud, and all of the educators and our school staff, should be very proud of being able to keep schools functioning and safe for staff, but also so importantly for families and children across the province,” said Dr. Bonnie Henry, B.C.’s provincial health officer. “I think that’s a major accomplishment.”
Jordan Tinney, superintendent of the Surrey school district, said he doesn’t have the words to thank his staff enough.
“The reward of seeing children in schools for an entire year, where we can provide the wrap-around supports we need, is the best reward of all,” Tinney wrote on his blog. “We have fed children, nurtured families, kept them safe, and provided an education, and I believe a high-quality education. People have done amazing work and it’s time we recognize just how amazing it was.”
B.C. was one of the few jurisdictions in North America that kept schools open this entire school year. Schools were closed completely for nearly 168 million children worldwide, UNICEF reports. In other areas, children may have to repeat an entire grade. Not so in B.C.
“Now, as we transition to a new phase and continue with immunizations throughout the province, students and educators can look forward to returning to a school environment that will be much closer to what they are accustomed to,” Henry said.
Next year, school schedules are expected to return to normal, students won’t be organized into cohorts and whether or not everyone will have to wear masks will be decided closer to September.
While returning to “nearly normal” next year would be wonderful, teachers and other education staff are going to take a while to recover from this year.
B.C. Teachers’ Federation president Teri Mooring said in a series of tweets that she hopes funding is available to keep up the pandemic level of cleaning in schools once the pandemic is over because there was a “remarkable reduction” in other communicable diseases this year.
She cautioned that students younger than 12 will not be vaccinated by September, so personal protective equipment may still be needed in some schools.
“Of all BCTF members who reported contracting COVID-19 in schools, the majority were elementary school teachers, so that remains an ongoing concern and needs to be addressed,” Mooring said, also mentioning ventilation concerns and the necessity of training for teachers, so they can support students’ mental health.
Surrey was the epicentre of the pandemic in B.C., and Tinney says he sent home an average of eight COVID-19 school exposure notices every single school day this year, for a total of 7,789 notices resulting from 1,606 school exposure notices.
The pandemic marks the first time the link between schools and the economy has been made so explicit, he says.
“…Without a doubt, children will always be at the centre, but being so open about the economic necessity of schools was a nuance we don’t often talk about,” Tinney wrote on his blog. “If the little ones are not in the classroom, parents cannot go to work. It’s as simple as that.”
Now that schools have been explicitly recognized as essential to the economy, let’s hope they remain a priority for all governments. This year, some districts, including Surrey and Richmond, faced budget shortfalls, in the midst of a pandemic. Richmond had to cut nearly 35 positions, while Surrey cut 252 positions.
As we move forward to a new “nearly normal” school year, let’s not forget that schools are an essential element in keeping our economy healthy, not only in that they allow parents to go to work, but also in that they are educating tomorrow’s innovators. Don’t take them for granted.
Tracy Sherlock is a freelance journalist who writes about education and social issues. Read her blog or email her [email protected]
