Education minister Rob Fleming announced all public and private K-12 schools in BC can re-open on a part-time basis on June 1. (Ian Holmes/NanaimoNewsNOW)

By NanaimoNewsNOW Staff

school announcement

B.C. schools to partially re-open June 1, attendance is optional

May 15, 2020 | 11:09 AM

NANAIMO — Schools will be going back in session, albeit in a dramatically altered and scaled-down fashion due to COVID-19.

Education minister Rob Fleming announced kindergarten to grade 12 classes will resume on June 1 if students choose. He said the re-integration plan will see most students going back to school on a part-time basis to safely manage physical contact.

“We’ll do this by having most students attend school part-time and by staggering lunch breaks, recess, drop-offs and pick-ups.”

Minister Fleming stressed during the Friday, May 15 announcement parents and children should not feel pressured to return to school.

“This return to class for students is optional and entirely voluntary. It is the parents’ choice to send their children to school now that we are resuming partial in-class instruction.”

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Fleming said beginning June 1, kindergarten to grade five students can attend school on a half-time basis.

He said all other students can be in schools 20 per cent of the time, or about one day a week in the month of June.

Fleming said new guidelines from the provincial health officer and Centre for Disease Control must be implemented by all public and private schools, while operating plans must be submitted to the ministry.

Premier John Horgan said the move to slowly re-open schools in the province is based on science and safety standards to pave the way for a smoother transition to full-time classes in September.

“We would not be making these announcements today if we felt there was an undo risk to the youngsters that are going into our schools or the teachers and support staff that we so much depend on.”

The province is continuing to allow the 5,000 children of essential service workers and those requiring extra support to attend school full-time.

In-class K-12 instruction in the province’s public and independent school systems have been shut down for two months, shifting to online learning.

Premier Horgan and minister Fleming previously said every student on track to advance grades or graduate in the fall will move on to the next level.

Roughly 550,000 students are enrolled in the province’s public education system, including more than 14,000 students and 2,000 staff in Nanaimo Ladysmith Public Schools.

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