On Wednesday May 6, the BC Government and Public Health Officer released the Restart Plan. The Ministry of Education released a Five Stage Approach. The BC Confederation of Parent Advisory Councils (BCCPAC) has done a great job of interpreting the information and putting it in one place for parents. We encourage you to follow them on Facebook and check their website often for updates.
Here is the latest update on May 6 with links.
COVID-19 Update for K-12 Education – May 6
We’ve done a recap to ensure information is reaching all members.
Please read.
Today Premier John Horgan, Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry and Minister of Health Adrian Dix provide an update on BC’s COVID-19 strategy.
Full details on the Restart Plan are found here: http://gov.bc.ca/covid19
The Go-Forward Management Strategy can be found here: https://bccpac.bc.ca/…/bc_covid-19_go-forward_management_st…
The Go-Forward Management Checklist can be found here: (see p9 re K-12) https://bccpac.bc.ca/…/go_forward_strategy_checklist_web.pdf
As part the plan, the province has outlined the Ministry of Education’s five stage approach to supporting students, families and staff. Here is the backgrounder -Scroll down to page 3 to see Education! https://bccpac.bc.ca/…/BG_Parks_and_Sites_and_In-Class_Lear…
Key Messages:
Phase 3 – June to September
IF transmission rates remain low or in decline, under enhanced protocols:
-Post-secondary education – with mix of online and in-class (September 2020)
-K-12 education – with only a partial return this school year (September 2020)
-Reopening our Schools
“As COVID-19 spread, governments everywhere took action to reduce in the classroom learning. For most British Columbians with young children, this meant having to stay at home to look after their kids. While many workplaces have made work-from-home accommodations, that hasn’t been an option for everyone. Our schools and educators rose to the challenge with online instruction and resources to keep our kids learning, but this placed a heavy burden on parents to support their kids as they learned at home. We know there is no substitute for in-class instruction — and an important step toward our recovery is getting kids back into the classroom, so parents can get back into the workplace. Initial health data indicates children are less affected than adults by the COVID-19 virus. Public health staff and officials will continue to review the health data. And the Ministry of Education and school divisions all around B.C. are reviewing options to allow for a safe return to school. An announcement on a phased approach to resuming in-class instruction will be made in the coming weeks. This will not be a return to normal. With weeks left in the school year, we anticipate many kids will not return to the classroom until September. But the Ministry is also exploring ways to safely get some kids back to school before the summer, to allow more parents to return to work. How these changes unfold are the focus of intensive discussion among Ministry of Education officials, school trustees, the BC Teachers’ Federation, CUPE, and other education sector partners.”
– For more information on protective measures that will be required of schools and post-secondary institutions, please refer to https://bccpac.bc.ca/…/bc_covid-19_go-forward_management_st…
Stay Tuned.