The start of B.C.’s upcoming school year is being pushed back slightly.
On Wednesday, the B.C. government announced staff will return to schools on Sept. 8 to get familiar with updated guidelines and adjust to the new routines under COVID-19. Students will be back in class two days later.
The slight change in the starting date comes after Education Minister Rob Fleming announced Tuesday that B.C. schools’ starting dates would NOT occur on Sept. 8 as originally planned. The delay comes following concerns from parents and staff over the safety measures in place going into the new school year.
“Having the restart week staged in some kind of manner that would have staff teams together for a couple days before we gradually welcome kids back to make sure that every school – all 1,500 of them in the province – are truly ready to welcome students is a good idea, and that’s the approach that we’ll be taking,” Fleming said.
When students do finally return, their first days back will look considerably different this year, the minister added.
“Typically what happens is that kids return for the first couple of days to their previous classroom configuration and then they would be assigned to a new classroom,” he said. “That obviously can’t happen under these pandemic conditions, that would not be a safe practice.”
Source: BC Ministry of Education
