Education Minister Jennifer Whiteside (R) and provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry provided an update on the provinces back-to-school plans Friday morning. (BC Government)

By Jordan Davidson

back to class Jan 10

Attendance will determine additional health measures as schools return to in-person learning

Jan 7, 2022 | 2:14 PM

NANAIMO — K-12 students in B.C. will return to in-person learning on Monday, Jan 10, 2022, but the system will be on high alert as the Omicron variant spreads.

Enhanced health measures like staggered class times, virtual meetings, and restricted visitation were revealed by education minister Jennifer Whiteside during a Friday, Jan 7 news conference.

Minister Whiteside said school attendance numbers will determine if further health requirements, such as testing or virtual learning, are required in a specific school or district.

“Schools will be monitoring attendance rates closely and will notify public health and the school community if attendance dips notably below typical rates for this time of year. That will trigger a response from public health which may include investigation, and the use of rapid tests to get a better understanding of what’s happening on the ground.”

Whiteside said the new method is because the fast-spreading Omicron variant has rendered case and contact tracing useless when attempting to determine the infection source to help limit the spread.

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Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry said rapid tests will also be distributed to schools for symptomatic school staff to use, while they hope to expand those at-home tests for symptomatic students as well.

“The ministry of health and education and the BC CDC and school districts are working together this week until these (tests) arrive to make sure we have the systems in place in order to do that, and the protocols for self-testing.”

Three-layer quality disposable masks will also continue to be provided in schools for students who need them.

The provincial government delayed students returning to school an additional week to give health authorities and school boards time to formulate a plan on how to best deal with the spread of Omicron.

District 68 supt.Scott Saywell spoke at their Jan. 5 education committee meeting, where he explained changes they’ve been working on this week are strategies used in the district previously.

“Preventing crowding during class by changing transition times if possible or beginning and end to school days. We will be holding all assemblies and staff meetings online, we will be limiting visitors to the school, maximizing the distance between students and classrooms.”

He said Dr. Henry spoke earlier this week about businesses should be prepared to operate with 30 per cent of their staff out sick, which means they are preparing for a possible “functional closure”.

“What that means is likely schools will be closed for a period of time and we will move online.

Dr. Henry also announced an order in place requiring all businesses to create a COVID safety plan with assistance from WorkSafeBC.

Schools and daycare centres are exempt from this order.

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jordan@nanaimonewsnow.com

On Twitter: @JordanDHeyNow