My wife and I spend time every summer in Sointula, the town on Malcolm Island, and we know how seriously the islanders have taken the pandemic. So I can understand why they're so concerned about an unmasked teacher. Via CBC News: Parents on B.C.'s Malcolm Island say most children kept home from school over staff member's mask exemption. Excerpt:
Parents on Malcolm Island, B.C., say they kept their young children from attending their first day of school Wednesday, after learning one of the school's two teachers would be exempt from wearing a mask in class.
"We feel this is a necessary step," said Brittany Swanson, who is a parent of three children at A.J. Elliot Elementary in Sointula — a community of around 600 people just north of Port McNeill on Vancouver Island— and also the current president of the school's Parent Advisory Council.
"We are not comfortable with an unmasked teacher in contact all day long with our children who are not old enough to be eligible to be vaccinated," Swanson told CBC, adding she learned from an online group chat with other parents that around 28 of the school's 34 children were held back Wednesday.
The CBC has reached out to School District 85 but has not heard back.
The Ministry of Education said in a statement that a Vancouver Island Rapid Response Team has reached out to the district and is "reviewing local safety plans to ensure safeguards are in place to support a healthy learning environment ... as well as to help communicate with parents."
Parents say concerns being brushed aside
Currently, the province's safety measures for the 2021/22 school year require all students and staff in grades 4 to 12 to wear a mask indoors, except those "who cannot tolerate wearing a mask for health or behavioural reasons" or are unable to use a mask without help from another person, among some other exceptions.
The province confirmed there is no mandate for teachers, staff and eligible students to be vaccinated against COVID-19 in order to return to the classroom.
Swanson said parents learned school officials would not be asking the staff member for proof of a medical exemption, and that parents would not be notified on whether the staff member is vaccinated, due to privacy legislation.
She recalled that many parents learned of the mask exemption last Friday when the district called them to a sudden Zoom meeting for the following evening, which included board representatives and the North Island's medical health officer.
Swanson said parents were dissatisfied when officials refused to discuss their concerns about the mask exemption, and instead focused on "educating us about COVID [precautions]."
