At this time of the year, Board Chairs routinely send out a message welcoming everyone back from summer vacation and asking drivers to be careful when driving near schools. So welcome back, and drivers please be careful when driving near our schools. What is not routine is asking everyone to come back to school in the midst of a COVID-19 pandemic.
As of Aug. 26, all districts in the province were required to submit their Return to School Plan to the Ministry of Education. In developing our plan, our administration team worked long hours talking with stakeholders, listening to staff, and reading emails from concerned parents. I should also note that they, too, are parents, grandparents, family members to those who work in schools, and members of families who live in multi-generational homes. Trustees have received an array of comments from, “I have no problem sending my kids back to school” to “my child will never return to school under the present conditions.” Given the range of feedback received and the concerns communicated, it is doubtful that we will come up with a plan that will completely satisfy everyone. It is likely that some will receive the plan positively, some will be apprehensive, and some will find it unacceptable. Regardless, we are going to keep working on our plan until all the children who want to be in school — are in school.
On behalf of my fellow Trustees, I would like to thank everyone for their emails.
We are trying to respond to as many of them as we can. As a result of your feedback, Trustees recently sent a letter to the Minister of Education requesting more flexibility in the start-up scheduling. We also requested that the ministry allow for the district to hold spots for our families who want to explore other educational options.
In closing, please keep the following in mind: Whatever plan we implement — it will be closely monitored and adjusted when it’s appropriate to do so.
It will not be a case of “let’s try this for a year, and see what happens.” The daily COVID-19 reports from Dr. Henry and her team continue to inform the planning and guidance we receive from the Ministry of Education, and the ongoing dialogue and collaboration with our stakeholder groups will let us know whether we need to modify our plan. The past six months have been unlike any that we have witnessed in the past — but we are going to get through it.
And we are going to do it by working together and by making the best of a very difficult situation.
Ken Hamaguchi
CHAIR
RICHMOND SCHOOL BOARD
