Burnaby trustees aren’t doctors or epidemiologists and will leave decisions about mandatory masking for kindergarten to Grade 3 students to public health officials.
That was the message in a motion passed unanimously by the school board Tuesday.
“Frankly, none of us is a medical doctor, let alone an epidemiologist or public health official,” said trustee Ryan Stewart, who introduced the motion.
The move came one day after the Vancouver school board decided to make masks mandatory for primary students, becoming the first B.C. district to go beyond the provincial guidelines.
(The Surrey school board followed suit on Wednesday.)
The Burnaby Teachers’ Association has been urging the Burnaby board to do the same.
“Ideally, we’d like it to be provincial, but, short of that, it’s encouraging to see districts go beyond,” president Daniel Tétrault told the NOW. “We’re advocating for Burnaby to go beyond as well.”
Local parents have also pressed for the mask mandate to be expanded.
District parent advisory council chair Ashley Sandquist was one of five DPAC chairs to sign a letter sent to provincial Health Minister Adrian Dix and Education Minister Jennifer Whiteside Monday calling for “urgent measures” in light of rising COVID cases among children.
Expanding the mask mandate to include younger kids was at the top of their list.
Stewart’s motion stated the board “acknowledges the feedback it has received from partner groups and stakeholders, including teachers and parents, expressing apprehension about variants of concern, and calling for additional measures to prevent spreading the coronavirus in schools.”
But, instead of expanding the mask mandate, the motion states the board “reiterates its strong encouragement that all students – including those in K to 3 – wear masks in schools unless medically, developmentally, or otherwise legitimately precluded from doing so.”
Additionally, the motion said the board would share Burnaby’s experience with mask wearing among primary students with the Fraser Health Authority’s chief medical health officer and provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry and “urge consideration of additional public health measures to increase mask wearing in schools to the fullest extent supported by the medical science and educational pedagogy.”
The motion concluded by saying the board would update schools on the matter at its October meeting or sooner.
“To those who’ve expressed concern to us about the current situation in our community regarding the spread of variants of concern, I suppose the message we’re hoping this motion will send is that we hear you and some of those concerns are shared,” said Stewart speaking to his motion. “At the same time, however, throughout this pandemic, the Burnaby school district has been consistently guided by the expert direction and advice of those specialists in public health.”
Trustee Bill Brassington stressed the motion also means the board “will be advocating for the health authorities to further support what’s in this motion and support science and process.”
Chair Jen Mezei noted the Burnaby school district “strongly encouraged people to wear masks even when there was not guidance to wear masks” and teachers and families have helped to create a culture of mask wearing at local schools.
She thanked teachers and families for “the work that they're doing to really take care of the community.”
Follow Cornelia Naylor on Twitter @CorNaylor
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