BC Teachers’ Federation pushing for mask mandate in return to school plans

VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) — The BC Teachers’ Federation is pushing for the implementation of a mask mandate in schools, when students and teachers return to schools next month.

This comes as Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry has said schools will function close to normal as the province moves into Stage 4, despite the Delta variant driving up cases across the province.

BCTF President Teri Mooring says a mask mandate remains key in keeping staff and students safe.

“Both youth and children that aren’t vaccinated yet, or not fully vaccinated or not eligible. So we still need to have some layers of protections, and without masking we’re really not going to have it,” she says.

Mooring wants to see masking across the board when school starts in September, and then phased out regionally for areas with lower transmission rates.

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“In order for that to happen though, we need clear and transparent data that is regionally accessible, publicly accessible. That’s an area that, you know, we have been really pushing for, is that better and more transparent and publicly available data.”

In a release last month, the BCCDC say that 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.

She says she’s concerned about comments some members of the school community have made about masks not being necessary in classrooms.

“What is not appreciated quite enough, is that students in schools were safe because teachers worked really hard to make sure that students were wearing masks, students were washing their hands, students were saying separated — teachers did additional supervision duties to keep kids separated, at a cost to their physical and mental health.”

Mooring understands that the decision to implement a mask mandate will come from a combination of the provincial government and provincial health office, but is asking for a decision to be made prior to the start of the school year.

It’s the same issue for #bced schools. There needs to be a more proactive approach rather than being continually reactive. Masking is a very simple and easy step. https://t.co/m9600sT4YZ

— Teri Mooring (@TeriMooring) August 14, 2021

“The last thing that, as the BCTF, we want to be doing, is continuing to argue about masks — that does not support anyone. So we’re in favor of a mask mandate to begin the school year.”

Although there are is a percentage of teachers who may not agree with a mask mandate, Mooring says over 80 per cent of teachers are in support of a mandate.

“Those differences of opinions around masking is one of the reasons why it needs to be mandated.”

Meanwhile, Mooring says there seems to be a high rate of vaccinations in teaching staff across the province.

Read More: B.C. mandates COVID-19 vaccinations for long-term care workers

“All the feedback that we’ve received, all the surveys that we’ve done, there isn’t vaccination hesitancy amongst teachers,” she says, adding that as research continues to evolve regarding transmission of COVID amongst fully vaccinated people, “we still need to be vigilant, even with the folks that are fully vaccinated.”

And while Mooring says the BCTF would support a vaccination mandate for teachers if the province decided to implement one, she says it would be far more complicated for 12 to 17-year-old students.

“We can’t restrict them from attending school because of vaccination status, but we can certainly require masking,” she says. “And so that’s why masking is essential.”

Surrey Teachers want COVID-19 measures implemented

The president of the Surrey Teachers Association Matt Westphal is hoping the same mistakes aren’t made again.

“My biggest concern is that we might go through a repeat of last year. By that I mean, starting with lower safety measures and holding more serious ones in reserve only if the situation gets really serious,” he says.

“And masks are the best example of that, as Dr. Henry described masks as a measure of last resort when it comes to doing a mandate. Personally, I think that’s the reverse of what it should be — they should be the first resort.”

He says the association would consider supporting a vaccine mandate for members.

“The vaccines are the best option we have to reduce the risk of getting COVID and having a bad outcome,” he says, adding that he encourages everyone to receive a vaccine.

“People do have valid medical reasons for why they cannot, and so we would need to know what is the plan for those people. Are there alternative measures that they could they could do so that they can continue working, or not?” he says.

Similarly to Mooring, Westphal wants to see the province start with strong measures, and then adjust.

“It’s a way to reduce the risk right from day one of the school year. Hopefully we don’t get to a point where we have to then be shutting down schools or having outbreaks and so on,” he says.

“My biggest concern is we’ll have the same paradigm of a single approach for the whole province, do as little as we need to — as they think we need to — and then amp it up. Because I don’t see that working out well, and it takes a terrible toll on the morale of staff.”