Board trustees with SD68 narrowly voted down a change in the provincial mask mandate which would require grade 6 and 7 students to wear masks. (File Photo/NanaimoNewsNOW)

By Alex Rawnsley

MASKS

SD68 Board narrowly votes down enhanced mask mandate for grade six, seven students

Mar 11, 2021 | 11:07 AM

NANAIMO — Trustees for School District 68 narrowly opted against extending provincial health orders on mask usage to grade six and seven students in the region.

On Feb. 4, the province updated its orders to require middle school students however Nanaimo-Ladysmith does not have middle schools. Students in grade eight are included in the high school mask mandate, while grade six and seven students default to the elementary rules of optional mask usage.

Trustee Tania Brzovic raised the motion during a Board meeting on Wednesday, March 11. She said the upcoming two week spring break left the district vulnerable when students returned.

“We don’t have the same levels of controls in terms of our student behaviour, we don’t know what families are going to be doing, there are concerns people may not be following provincial health guidelines…which means when they return to school we will have greater risk of having COVID in our schools.”

If approved, the motion would have taken effect on March 29 when students return from spring break.

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Supporters of the motion pointed to the science. Trustee Jessica Stanley said provincial health orders indicate grade six and seven students should be wearing mask.

“All of our grade six and seven students, developmentally are the same regardless of whether they’re in elementary or middle school. They’re capable of wearing masks and the debate about whether we should do this in elementary school is more of an organizational debate.”

She added the layer of protection afforded by wearing a mask was “one thing we can do in addition” to rules already in place for SD68.

Dr. Sandra Allison, medical health officer for Island Health said any health benefit of asking two grades in elementary school to wear masks could be negated by mental health side effects.

“For two grades out of seven in a school, you would determine they needed to be treated differently. I believe that would change some of how they feel about themselves and how they feel about the community and the school.”

Allison added the COVID-19 restrictions in schools are designed to be as unobtrusive as possible while achieving the desired result.

Superintendent Scott Saywell echoed concerns of deviating from a whole-school approach to masks, citing split grades in many local schools.

“You would have students…in grade 6 born in December and the grade 5 student born in January literally days apart. We also have some students in grade 5 who would be older than students in grade 6. I think it would make some awkward circumstances.”

Despite a consistent drip of COVID-19 exposures since school resumed, very little in school transmission has occurred. Just four exposures to date were in grades six or seven, with no transmission detected.

“We have 2,200-ish staff, 15,000-ish students who are in our system every single day, we have had, I believe, less than five in-school transmission events,” Stephanie Higginson, board trustee, said. “The proposed benefit does not outweigh the implications of this.”

She added the grade-based approach to mask usage which schools were under in June “created a lot of confusion” for students and teachers.

Higginson also said the district had defaulted to medical health officers during previous outbreaks of measles and lice and it was the boards job to implement provincially created guidelines, not to create them.

The motion to increase the mask mandate in SD68 schools was voted down 5-4.

A second motion also presented by Trustee Brzovic on added signage and education on mask usage was also voted down 5-4, after district staff presented several initiatives in the works and already in place to encourage and educate on mask usage.

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alex.rawnsley@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @alexrawnsley