Kamloops teachers and support staff pleased with new mask mandate in B.C. schools

KAMLOOPS — It’s a step many British Columbians have been calling for quite some time. In a news conference Thursday, Education Minister Jennifer Whiteside announced masks are now mandatory for all staff in all schools, as well as students in middle and secondary schools,

“…in all indoor areas of the school, including when they are in their learning group,” Whiteside said.

According to School District #73 Assistant Superintendent Trish Smillie, the time was right for an update to the province’s health and safety protocols in schools.

“The last time the Ministry of Education updated their health and safety was in September,” Smillie explains. “Now, being halfway through the year, it’s the perfect time for us to move forward with enhancements to our health and safety.”

Laurel Macpherson, President of the Kamloops Thompson Teachers Association, is pleased with the new mask measures; however, she believes they could have gone further.

“We were hoping the mask mandate would extend to elementary schools, Macpherson says. “There has bee a small improvement – it went from ‘not recommended’ to ’not required,’ so it still is a personal choice for elementary students and their parents.”

It was also announced Thursday that the province would be releasing the second round of funds to school districts, meant to enhance safety in schools. The union that represents school support staff hopes this means some relief for its members.

“Our custodial staff is being asked to more in the same amount of time,” Corey Grabner, CUPE Local 3500, explains. “Finding out that the second wave of provincial and federal funding is coming out is a boon. It would be nice to see some of it spent to hire more CUPE staff to alleviate staff burnout.”

The KTTA would be on board with adding custodial staff, as well.

“We would love to see more CUPE [custodians] hired to do that work, for sure,” Macpherson says.

While it’s not yet clear where School District 73 plans to allocate those extra funds, Assistant Superintendent Trish Smillie says there’s an easy way to help prevent any further spread of COVID-19 in Kamloops schools.

“The most important control we have in schools is that students stay home when they’re sick,” Smillie says. “We know no transmission can happen if people are healthy when they’re at school.”