The provincial government has announced that in-class K-12 education will resume on a voluntary basis starting June 1.
Premier John Horgan called the partial resumption of in-person operations a “dry run” for what a full physically distanced school year could look like come September.
“We would not have opened up schools again in June if we did not believe it was safe to do so," he said.
Last week, the Optimist on its Facebook page, asked parents what they thought of the province’s plans to return to education.
Of the 33 responses to the question as of Friday, afternoon May 22, 26 people said they would not be sending their kids back to class in June, while seven said they would be.
Raymond Reitsma said they don’t plan to send their eldest back to school in June.
“He is in Grade 2, and would find it too hard to maintain the social and physical distancing required to keep himself and others safe,” he said. “We don't want to run the risk of coming into contact with the virus and passing it on to someone else whose health may be vulnerable. We feel that going back in June is too soon.”
Reitsma said their homeschooling is going well.
“Our son's reading ability has benefited from all the individual attention he has been receiving at home. Our daughter doesn't go to school yet, but she has also benefited from all the academic activities, especially French. The key to success is to make learning fun, and to integrate lots of breaks with outdoor play time.”
Lisa Bowles has three children in high school and will also not be sending them back in June.
“I believe it’s an unnecessary risk at this time, with only four weeks left in the year,” said Bowles. “They have been quite successful for the most part with their remote learning experience and are all happy to continue with it at this time. They are old enough to stay at home in their own, which is helpful as I am an EA preparing to have to return to school myself.
“I appreciate that it’s been challenging and difficult for many families, especially those with younger school-aged kids, and I realize that people need to be able to work. I feel like it would make more sense to provide additional subsidies for those families that would allow them to continue to remain at home with their children until at least the summer, or possibly September.”
Nicole Geha, in an email to the Optimist, said their family has appreciated the support from teachers during this time and all their work behind the scenes getting the home schooling up and running and planning lessons with kids of their own at home.
“We won’t be sending our kids back to school for a few reasons. First, my kids are diagnosed with flu induced asthma, secondly I have seen their idea of social distancing when catching up with two friends out in a huge field so he could say hi,” said Geha. “My eldest has ADD and when he gets amped up there is no reasoning with him or reminding him about previous instructions, which makes it too risky.”
She said there are no easy or perfect solutions, but they will keep their little ones home until September even though they miss their teachers and friends dearly.
On the other side of the question, James Kato said he is looking forward to sending his kids back to school.
“I am interested in what they have planned for the social distancing aspect,” said Kato. “Sure there are dangers, but we are in a very good situation with respect to COVID-19 now. I think it is safer now that it will be in September, but everything we do with the kids has some danger. Every time we go in the car, riding our bike something terrible might happen. Taking a bath or going to the pool or beach. You can live in a bubble forever, live in fear of everything. There's a higher chance of being killed by a mosquito than COVID-19.”
Jeannette VanTil said her Grade 11 daughter is choosing to go back for her own sanity. “Home schooling and self-learning has resulted in a lot of frustration. As parents we fully support her decision,” said VanTil.
Christine Tang said she is also sending her kids back to the classroom.
“Both my husband and I are frontline workers and they have been going to the daycare provided through the district since April,” said Tang. “It has been exceptional and I have been very impressed with how they have handled the social distancing while still engaging my kids and supporting their learning. Thankfully, our numbers are very low in B.C. and the current risk is minimal with hand washing and social distancing.”
