For parents who have been expressing worry about class and cohort sizes, social distancing, and mask usage, the superintendent of the Sea to Sky School District says that back-to-school COVID-19 plans follow the directives of B.C.'s health officials.
Earlier in August, the school district revealed that students would be grouped into learning groups or 'cohorts' of 60 to 120 students, with smaller cohorts for elementary grades. Students within the same cohorts would not have to wear masks when around each other and wouldn't have to abide by stringent social distancing measures. However, masks and social distancing would be required for interactions outside that social bubble.
Class sizes will still be about 20 to 30 students, depending on the grade.
Some parents wondered why students wouldn't follow more stringent distancing measures and always wear masks. There were some questions about if it was safe to send their child to a setting where their exposure bubble may include 60 or more other children.
In response, Supt. Lisa McCullough told The Chief on Aug. 26 that it's not her call to make.
"We take our direction from public health and from the research and the science they're using to create the guidelines," said McCullough, after the province approved the school district's back-to-school safety plans that day.
"So we are not the experts in public health. We carefully take the guidance from public health and CDC [the Centre for Disease Control]. And then we apply their guidance and their guidelines into our school settings."
The school district is not the authority on making COVID safety regulations, she said.
"I'm not a public health official, so I think those questions are better asked of public health. I can tell you that the direction I've been given is that these cohorts are a suitable size for the age groups."
As an example, she also noted that measures like not mandating full-time mask-wearing for elementary students result from data that shows smaller children will touch their faces more often when wearing a mask.
They'll also need more help with adjusting their masks, she said, which means an adult would have to come within their two-metre bubble to help them, creating another exposure risk.
As of Aug. 26, online surveys have indicated that roughly 90% of students will be coming back to in-person classes, though this number will change as more data comes in.
McCullough painted a picture of what classes would look like for those students who choose to come to school in person. She noted, however, that this picture may vary depending on the school.
For some elementary students, the beginning of the day will start with a trip on the school bus. Buses will only take eligible kids. People within walking distance of school, or those outside the catchment area will not be picked up anymore.
Everyone on the bus will have to wear a mask, as it won't be possible to sort people by cohort in that environment. Only two kids will be allowed per seat, whereas previously up to three were placed together.
Once they arrive at school, principals will sort kids outside of the building into their learning groups or cohorts. These groups are generally made of 60 people that will stay with each other for weeks or months at a time. Together, they will wait for the bell. Once the bell rings, student cohorts will enter the building in a staggered manner so they don't all congregate at the same time and same place. Sanitizer and hand washing stations will be available at or near entrances.
Paper towels will be placed in all the bathrooms.
Students in cohorts will then go to classes, where rooms will be filled with 20 to 30 students, depending on the grade.
Unstructured time, like lunchtime, will be taken with learning groups.
For high school students, the day will look fairly similar. Students will be divided into cohorts and enter the school in a staggered schedule.
There will be some differences, however.
Cohorts for high school students will be larger with up to 120 people in these groups.
Their schedules will also look a little different. They'll be focusing on only two classes per quarter, as opposed to four classes per semester. That way, there will be a reduced amount of movement between classrooms. Furthermore, it will be easier to maintain learning if there are further lockdown measures imposed.
Speaking of lockdowns, McCullough said that should another lockdown occur, like what happened in the spring, it would be likely that schooling would follow a similar plan.
"I would say that in lots of ways, it would look very similar," said McCullough.
Students would be learning online and coming to class in person perhaps twice a week in order to cut the density of each school in half. There would also be a day set aside for personal check-ins that would occur either online or in-person.
Children of essential service workers and vulnerable students would get priority to attend school full-time. Schools will still work to provide and deliver food to children on meal programs.
While she noted that while some parents complained about that arrangement, McCullough said that things will be smoother this time around because teachers have had more experience educating this way.
"The differences might be that teachers aren't going to get sort of caught off-guard at the last minute, being told that everything they normally do now has to change in a couple of weeks," she said. "I would suggest that teachers have had the practice in the spring now. They are more familiar with the web platforms that we use."
Individual learning plans will be developed for students who have health issues and can't attend school, she said.
They won't be able to join their classes all the time. For example, there likely won't be webcams placed in classrooms that would allow them to stay with the class all day.
But, McCullough said, for some interactions that occur on platforms like Google Hangouts, that students will be able to join and catch up with their classmates.
She also clarified that as per a new option, online distance learning will be available to students from kindergarten to Grade 9, which is traditionally the demographic that opts for homeschooling.
Online distance learning occurs under the care of a certified B.C. public school teacher, whereas parents of homeschooled children are entirely responsible for their learning.
However, the school won't be automatically transferring homeschooled children to distance learning.
McCullough also noted that schools are temporarily allowing some students to start off with online distance learning. Teachers will save a seat for them in class, with the expectation that they will soon start attending classes in-person.
It's a measure that gives parents and students some time to adjust to the start of classes, she said.
