Most B.C. students return to the classroom, but some parents keep kids home

Vancouver -

After an extended three week winter break, in-person learning has resumed for B.C.’s 550,000 kindergarten to Grade 12 students – and the vast majority returned to the classroom on Monday.

That includes Taylor Morse's son, who is in kindergarten at Lynn Valley Elementary in North Vancouver.

“I’m a little nervous, but it’s really good for him mentally and socially. He’s excited to go back,” said Morse. “They’re taking all the right precautions, and we generally feel pretty safe."

Principal Lisa Upton is excited to have kids back. “There is no lonelier place on the planet than a school without children in it. We spent last week getting ready for the children’s safe return,” said Upton.

Schools were asked to come up with improved COVID-19 safety measures. Three-layer masks are now available in the office and in classrooms at Lynn Valley Elementary, and class start and end times have been staggered to allow for more distancing.

“Being a mom myself, I want to know that someone cares about my kids, that the layers of protection that have been recommended have been put into place, that attendance levels are being monitored carefully on a daily basis, and that’s absolutely true at Lynn Valley,” said Upton.

The principal hasn’t heard from any parents who don’t feel comfortable sending their kids back to class. “We are fully expecting our students to be at the school today. We missed them, and I know they’ve missed us too,” said Upton.

But some students are being kept at home. Vancouver parent Shaun Kalley’s 15-year-old daughter is one of them.

“We decided as a family that our daughter would stay home, primarily because there is an expanded risk within our family because of people in the hospital, to keep them safe and minimize our exposure and risk to COVID,” said Kalley.

He would consider sending his daughter back to school if there was better ventilation and N95 masks. But he expects the Omicron wave will quickly put an end to in-person learning in B.C.

“I think we are going to see a shut down, probably by the end of this week,” he predicted.

A sudden shift to online learning due to staffing shortages is a concern for the B.C. Teachers' Federation. “That shift could happen quickly. Teachers are being told to bring their equipment, computers home every single day. It's very disconcerting,” said union president Teri Mooring.

B.C is one of a handful of provinces attempting a full return to the classroom this week. Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec and the Maritimes are all starting 2022 online.

“Its hard to tell who’s and right and who’s wrong. As far as we are concerned, maybe we are better off in B.C.,” said Wing Wong, who dropped his grandson off for his Grade 1 class at Lynn Valley Elementary. “He’s happy to be back in school for sure, even though it has been delayed for a week.”

Upton is hopeful the layers of protection in place will keep both teachers and students safe, and allow classroom learning to continue.

“One of the things that’s different from September is most of our kids have had their first vaccine. So we are really grateful for that,” she said.