SURREY (NEWS 1130) — With just weeks until the first day of school, the province is set to unveil plans Tuesday morning for students, teachers, and parents as the province faces the growing Delta variant.
On Monday, Premier John Horgan declared it unlikely that B.C. would move into step 4 in the Restart Plan in September as expected, which would have seen a return to more normal schooling.
The premier says he knows students and parents will have many questions and concerns about what exactly that will look like.
At the end of the 2021 school year masks were required for all K to 12 staff, and for all students in grade 4 to 12. Students were also organized into learning groups.
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That was expected to be a thing of the past this year, but with a surge in COVID-19 cases in recent weeks it’s unclear measures what will be in place.
The announcement comes a day after the province introduced a proof-of-vaccination card which will be required to access certain settings like sporting events and movie theatres come Sept. 13., with only those fully vaccinated able to attend by Oct. 24.
The requirement applies to all people born in 2009 or earlier, as children under 12 cannot receive a vaccine.
The province also says it is not required for K-12 before and after school programs.
Youth recreational sports are also exempt from a proof-of-vaccine card.
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School plans (Grade & Post sec) out Tues am.
Details already known from proof of vax info:
-on-campus post-sec housing requires vaccinations
-before/after school k-12 programs do not
-youth recreational sports do not (presume schools will follow same)#bcpol #bced @NEWS1130 pic.twitter.com/MUfSKHWaBA— LizaYuzda (@LizaYuzda) August 24, 2021
Post-secondary students will need to be at least partially vaccinated by Sept. 7 if they intend to live in on-campus housing, the province says.
The University of British Columbia says it supports the move but admits that it may be more challenging for out-of-province students.
“Further guidance will be developed in the coming days in consultation with public health, including which types of student housing facilities will be included. We also recognize that we need to allow for a transition period beyond September 7, for those students who are arriving from outside BC and Canada, to give them an opportunity to access vaccinations and obtain a BC Vaccine Card,” UBC President and Vice-Chancellor Santa J. Ono wrote in a statement.
One thing the BC Teachers’ Federation will be watching is if the province reintroduces a mask mandate, something it has been pushing for.
BCTF president Teri Mooring has called for a more proactive approach, saying that the province has been continually reactive when it comes to COVID-19.
“We can’t restrict them from attending school because of vaccination status, but we can certainly require masking,” Mooring told NEWS 1130 says earlier this month.
“So that’s why masking is essential.”
The #bcpoli government will announce their back to school plan any day. #BCed parents, we need your help to ensure safety measures are in place before hundreds of thousands of unvaccinated or partially vaccinated students start gathering in schools. Sign https://t.co/3PU82DIGcN
— BCTF (@bctf) August 20, 2021
In a release last month, the BCCDC said during the 2020-21 school year, schools were low-risk for COVID-19 transmission.
“[Schools were] low-risk sites for COVID-19 transmission when infection prevention and exposure control measures (also called health and safety measures) were in place,” it reads.
The province will provide an update at 9:30 a.m. Stay with NEWS 1130 and listen live for updates or stream the news conference online.
With files from Liza Yuzda
B.C.’s back-to-school COVID-19 plan to be laid out Tuesday morning - News 1130
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