A long-awaited mandatory mask policy is now in place for B.C.’s middle and secondary schools – but students will still be able to take off their masks when sitting at their own desks.
The new mask policy is a key part of updated health and safety guidelines for B.C. schools, announced Thursday morning by Education Minister Jennifer Whiteside and provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry.
“As the pandemic continues to evolve and as we learn more about its behaviour, our school guidelines must evolve as well,” said Whiteside, New Westminster’s MLA, in her first major public media briefing since she took over the education portfolio in November.
Until now, middle and secondary school students have been required to wear non-medical masks when they were in “uncontrolled” settings (such as hallways or libraries) or when not with their learning groups. Now, all middle and secondary school students, along with staff throughout the K-12 system, will be required to wear them in all indoor areas of a school – except when they’re sitting or standing at their own desk or workstation, or when they’re eating or drinking.
In elementary schools, the use of masks remains a personal choice. But the guidelines have been updated to say that masks at elementary schools are “not required,” rather than “not recommended” – a distinction noted by B.C. School Trustees Association president Stephanie Higginson, who was also part of the briefing.
Higginson said the change will make it easier for schools to have “mask encouragement.”
WHY NOT MASKS FOR YOUNG CHILDREN?
Questioned why masks would not be mandatory at elementary school levels, Henry said the new guidelines align with provincial mandates in other settings, which require mask use for people aged 12 and up.
“We all know that young children don’t get as sick with this, don’t pass it on as well as others,” she said. “Families know very well that it’s very challenging for young people to have a mask on all the time, and so we still have it optional. We are encouraging families and the school community to enable young people to wear a mask, particularly when they’re in environments where they’re in groups with others and they’re not maintaining their distance.”
Whiteside clarified that the mask rules will apply according to school, rather than according to the age or grade level of the students – that is, Grade 6 and 7 students attending middle schools will be required to wear masks, but Grade 6 and 7 students attending elementary schools will not.
She noted the question was the subject of much discussion by the provincial steering committee that’s tasked with reporting on schools during the pandemic, but it was decided that it makes more sense for students to be subject to guidelines that are consistent with the environment that they’re in.
In New Westminster, the new mask rules will affect students at Fraser River, Queensborough and Glenbrook middle schools. They will not affect students at the city’s elementary schools, which cover kindergarten through Grade 5 (except in Queensborough, where Queen Elizabeth Elementary covers kindergarten through Grade 4, and Grade 5 students are part of the middle school).
MASKS NOT THE ONLY ANSWER
Both Whiteside and Henry stressed that masks are only one part of the picture when it comes to school safety.
“It is critical to remember that masks do not prevent the spread of COVID-19 on their own,” Whiteside said. “We still very much need the other layers of protection.”
Whiteside said other measures – such as not attending school with even mild symptoms, and diligent hand-washing – are still key to combatting the virus in schools.
Whiteside also announced strengthened guidelines for physical education and music classes. Under the new guidelines, high-intensity physical activities are to be held outside as much as possible.
Any activities that include prolonged physical contact are not to be part of physical education or any other classroom lessons. For instance, the province cites activities such as tag and touch football as lower-risk, since students have only brief contact with one another – compared to activities such as wrestling or partner dancing, which should be avoided.
Shared equipment – such as weight machines, treadmills or musical instruments – can be used only if it is thoroughly cleaned between uses, adhering to strict sanitizing guidelines. Students using physical equipment or playing instruments should be spaced at least two metres apart, and masks are to be worn while singing.
Henry said those guidelines have been put in place to reduce the potential for transmission during activities that have been found to be a higher risk.
She also noted that the province has updated the checklists and requirements for school safety plans to help ensure that all schools are consistently following the guidelines.
“We have learned that when these safety plans are relaxed or provisions are made for some of the higher-risk activities, for example, that that can increase the risk of transmission,” she said.
Henry reiterated the message she has delivered since the fall, which is that the COVID-19 situation in schools is a reflection of what’s happening in the wider community.
“We have seen exposures in our schools, and we have reported on those exposures, but we need to remember that these are reflections of what’s happening in our communities,” she said. “We’ve had very little spread within the school setting, particularly within the classrooms, and that is a testament to how safe they are being made by everybody in the school community.”
FEDERAL FUNDING WILL HELP WITH VENTILATION, STAFFING
Questioned why other aspects of school safety that have been discussed – such as ventilation and fewer students in classrooms – were not included in the new guidelines, Whiteside referred back to the federal funding that is being directed towards COVID-19 safety in schools.
The second half of that $242-million funding arrived on Jan. 29 and is now being allocated by school districts around the province. Local districts have the option to spend that money in a number of areas, based on their specific needs – including hiring additional staff, purchasing masks and other PPE, improving ventilation and air systems in schools, adding hand-washing and hand-sanitizing stations, providing mental health support and/or purchasing technology to support remote learning.
The New Westminster school district previously announced its plans for its share of the federal money, which works out to slightly more than $2.5 million in total. It has allocated that money to teacher and support staffing for its new K-8 online learning program, new outdoor learning structures for four local schools, and a number of capital upgrades in schools including touchless faucets. It’s also using some of the money for health and safety supplies such as PPE, Plexiglas barriers and disinfection sprayers.
As far as the number of students in classrooms, Whiteside said school districts have been “grappling” with the issue this year. She noted that some schools – including many secondary schools in the Lower Mainland – have introduced forms of hybrid learning to help reduce the number of students in school at any given time. New Westminster Secondary School is one of those; it has introduced a “quarter” system this year, rather than a semester system, and students have some remote learning time in their weekly schedule alongside in-class lessons.
Whiteside also cited changes such as staggered arrival and break times and staggered drop-off and pickup times as ways school districts are reducing the number of students gathered in one place at any given time.
In New Westminster, some of the federal funding has gone towards increased supervision costs to cover those staggered times.
A MESSAGE TO STUDENTS
Whiteside also took time at the briefing to deliver a message directly to B.C. students.
“I know the pandemic has been very difficult for you. You’ve missed out on time with friends, time engaging in activities that you like, and everything about our COVID world really just feels different for everybody,” she said.
“And for older students, we recognize that this is not how you had envisioned spending your final school years. Your generation will be fundamentally shaped by the experience you’re going through right now, and it is, frankly, unlike anything experienced by previous generations.
“But I do want to say, I think you’ve been amazing, and I want to encourage you to hang in there and keep taking it day by day, and we will get through this.”
Follow Julie MacLellan on Twitter @juliemaclellan.
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