PETERS: Better spacing needed as school restarts next week

For better or worse, parents live and die through their children’s experiences, and that means it’s a stressful time for parents, too.

Often, our kids handle the things we stress over perfectly well on their own. This year, though, how can we expect them to handle a situation we’re all dealing with for the first time?

We do need to recognize that nearly everyone working to make school happen next week is doing so in good faith and using the best available data to make decisions.

One, though, is still confusing.

The number one way to stop the spread of COVID-19 is to keep carriers of the virus away from others.

That’s why we isolate, that’s why we close the borders, that’s why we keep our distances.

So if we’re insisting that getting on-site schools back up and running is necessary, then why isn’t more attention being paid to keeping students and staff better spaced?

Certainly, the federal funding announced this week can be set aside for hiring more teachers and decreasing class sizes. It’s a step in the right direction — if those potential new teachers are even out there.

A visit to any local school would be an eye-opener in the context of spacing, though.

Our secondary schools in Kamloops are generally over capacity, with Valleyview Secondary the most crowded of the bunch.

There are lots of students and too little space in these buildings. The math doesn’t work.

Moving classes outside when possible would be helpful, but that is weather-dependent.

Some of this money should be used to either re-open dormant schools or rent community halls and other buildings left dark by the pandemic.

These community facilities may not be ideal learning environments — but nothing is ideal in 2020.

The best we can hope for is a chance to keep staff and students adequately spaced so they don’t continue to spread the virus.

It’s true that COVID-19 does not represent as much of a health risk to young people as it does to older age groups.

Students, though, can still easily spread the virus among themselves and then bring it back to their families, so keeping them safe and healthy is paramount.

——

Editor’s Note: This opinion piece reflects the views of its author, and does not necessarily represent the views of CFJC Today or the Jim Pattison Broadcast Group.

by James Peters

PETERS: Better spacing needed as school restarts next week

Our Community