Masks should also be mandatory for Delta students from Kindergarten to Grade 3.
The Delta Teachers’ Association and 11 other BC Teachers Federation (BCTF) locals in the Fraser Health Region issued a joint statement Thursday calling on the government for even more stringent COVID-19 safety protocols as the number of cases in the province continues to surge upward.
The province recently expanded the mask mandate for schools to include all staff from K-12 as well as students from grades 4 to 12 to wear them inside.
Students in K-3 are still not required to wear them but parents are “encouraged” to have those younger kids wear masks as well.
However, the teachers’ union says the FHA needs to implement more aggressive measures to combat the virus in the region, particularly with the increasing prevalence of variants of concern.
The teachers say it is very concerning that B.C. is now identified by epidemiologists around the world as a “hotspot” for the P1 variant.
“Increased layers of protection must be made available to everyone, even our youngest. Primary teachers’ school days include close contact with their young students who may not understand the reasons behind why they should limit physical contact. In other community interactions, children as young as two must wear a mask, so this should not be a problem for five to eight-year-olds to do the same while attending school,” the statement from the BCTF reads.
The statement notes teachers are also asking for a region-specific phase change to at least stage three, to allow for blended in-person and online learning.
DTA president Susan Yao told the Optimist students and teachers at secondary schools in Delta will be switching cohorts in two weeks, meaning there are additional risks of transmission with new learning groups. It’s another reason there needs to be a regional approach to mitigate the risks, she said.
Teachers are also requesting more information on the status of teacher vaccinations as essential workers.
Yao said the DTA receives daily requests from Delta teachers asking when the vaccines are coming.
It is a difficult job to have to tell teachers there’s still no answers, she added.
“Surrey teachers have been mostly vaccinated, but we hope the rest of our Fraser Health region teachers will be on track to receive full vaccination as soon as possible,” the teachers' statement notes.
The statement goes on to say, “With the spreading of much more contagious variants, it is time to adapt and take more aggressive measures to fight COVID-19 in our school communities.”
More Delta school exposures
Families of students attending South Delta Secondary received a notification letter Wednesday that there was an exposure to a COVID-19 variant of concern at the Tsawwassen high school.
That exposure occurred March 31 and April 1.
The total number of Delta schools that have had COVID-19 exposure events in recent days is now at 10, although, so far, only the SDSS situation has been confirmed to have been an exposure to a variant of concern.
According to Fraser Health’s list of school exposures, updated Thursday morning, the other Delta schools include Delview Secondary (March 31 and April 1), English Bluff Elementary (March 30, 31 and April 1), Immaculate Conception (April 1), Jarvis Traditional Elementary (March 29), McCloskey Elementary (March 29), North Delta Secondary (March 29 and April 1), Sunshine Hills Elementary (March 29), Southpointe Academy (March 24, 25, 26, 29, 30, 31) and Sacred Heart Elementary (March 29, 30, 31 and April 1).
