The 12 BCTF Local Presidents that represent
teachers who work within the Fraser Health region have released the following
statement calling on the Fraser Health Authority to improve health and safety
standards in schools.
This week, tens of thousands of public school
employees and hundreds of thousands of public school students returned to
school after a two-week winter break. Over the break, families were able to
limit their exposure to COVID-19, but upon the re-opening of schools on January
4, they once again face the daily risk of exposure to the coronavirus.
As the local BCTF presidents who represent
teachers within the Fraser Health Authority, we are calling on Fraser Health to
intensify their efforts to help make schools safer for staff, students, and the
loved ones we all go home to. Combined, we represent thousands of teachers who
work at hundreds of worksites. We’re speaking out together in solidarity for those
members who are working in the schools where health and safety standards are
inadequate, inconsistent, or unsafe.
Specifically, the Fraser Health Authority
needs to work with the government, the office of the Provincial Health Officer,
and school districts to make the following changes:
- Continue making improvements to ensure there is timely contact
tracing by the Fraser Health Authority. Some exposure notices arrive near the
end of the two-week monitoring period, too late to help anyone.
- Reduce density in schools and classrooms to enable physical
distancing. Desks are often less than a metre apart and many facilities have
poor ventilation.
- Make masks mandatory use in all indoor spaces because physical
distancing is not possible in most schools.
- Ensure educators and school staff are appropriately prioritized to
receive vaccinations as soon as possible.
- Provide a clear definition and rationale for the threshold to
declare an outbreak in a school.
Too many people in our schools feel unsafe. In
addition, parents are worried about the health of their children and COVID-19
entering their homes because of transmission at school. More needs to be done
to improve preventative measures. Many schools in the Fraser Health region are
not safe enough and the status quo is unacceptable.
All along, health officials have assured
British Columbians that they will adapt as they learn more about the pandemic
and identify problem areas. Across the Fraser Health region, mask use is
inconsistent, cohorts easily break down, and there is little room for physical
distancing, especially in schools that are full or over capacity. As a result,
the layers of protection do not exist in many of our schools like they do in
most other indoor public spaces.
Here are some examples of the impact of
COVID-19 in our schools.
- Exposure notifications are happening daily in schools throughout
the Fraser Health Authority— these continued well into the first week, and even
second week, of winter break.
- Close to 50 cases of COVID-19 can be linked to Earl Marriott
Secondary, a large over capacity school in Surrey. If the superintendent didn’t
go public, it is unclear if any exposure letters or other notifications would
have been sent out to staff and families.
- Two Grade 9 classes at New Westminster Secondary School were
ordered to self-isolate just before the winter break.
- The entire 90-student cohort at A.D Rundle Middle School—Integrated
Arts and Technology Secondary in Chilliwack was ordered to self-isolate before
winter break, effectively shutting down the program.
- In Delta, 24 out of 31 school sites have had exposures, one school
has had a full closure as well as several classes in other schools have had to
self-isolate.
- Some schools in the region have received more than 20 exposure
notices, but there is no clarity around when an actual outbreak or in-school
transmission has occurred. This forces community members and workers to search
for information on social media channels.
- In Burnaby, there was a likely outbreak at an elementary school
where a number of staff and students in the same week contracted COVID-19, but
no outbreak was declared and no classes received isolation letters issued.
It’s time to make changes, improve
transparency, and take decisive action to improve the safety of our schools.
As Local Presidents we are committed to
working with school districts and health authority officials to get this
important work done.
In solidarity,
Stéphane Bélanger,
President, Syndicat des enseignantes et enseignants du programme francophone de
la C.-B
Jennifer Brooks,
President, Abbotsford Teachers' Union
Ken Christensen,
President, Coquitlam Teachers' Association
Tanya Kerr,
President, Langley Teachers' Association
Ed Klettke,
President, Chilliwack Teachers' Association
Ryan McCarty,
President, Mission Teachers' Union
Lynne Marvell,
President, Fraser-Cascade Teachers' Association
Trevor Takasaki,
President, Maple Ridge Teachers' Association
Daniel Tetrault,
President, Burnaby Teachers' Association
Matt Westphal,
President, Surrey Teachers' Association
Sarah Wethered,
President, New Westminster Teachers' Union
Susan Yao,
President, Delta Teachers' Association