Image Credit: CFJC Today

By Adam Donnelly

COVID-19

Burnout, mental health concern Kamloops teachers amid pandemic

Jan 11, 2021 | 5:09 PM

KAMLOOPS — As the number of cases of COVID-19 continues to grow in our region, teachers find themselves perched precariously on the frontline of that fight against the virus.

Just one week into the new year, CFJC Today spoke with the president of the local teachers union, as well as the district superintendent to find out what’s being done to ensure the safety and sanity of staff and students at local schools.

After what was likely a much-needed break, school resumed around the district last Monday for staff and students of School District 73. While 2021 has just begun, many of the concerns around the increasing number of cases of the novel coronavirus continue to grow.

“Now we’re seeing more [cases] even into Kamloops,” Kamloops-Thompson Teachers Association President Laurel Macpherson says. “Our protected bubble seems to be not as protected anymore.”

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The KTTA has several concerns, including the process of contact tracing for school exposures. SD73 Superintendent Terry Sullivan says that process falls under the purview of Interior Health and he isn’t sure there’s a way to speed things up.

“I think that people need to appreciate that as the number of cases goes up — and they will go up this week, based on what we’re hearing from the community — then that’s going to be time-consuming for Interior Health to get through that process and inform us,” Sullivan explains.

According to a research report by the Canadian Teachers Federation, the mental health of educators has taken a beating during the past ten months. Almost 69 per cent of teachers polled for the report, which came out in November 2020, said they had questions or concerns about their mental health. The same report shows over 80 per cent of those teachers were having difficulty coping with the stress at work, with the average stress level hitting 76.5 on a sliding scale out of 100.

“The workload is huge, and we are finding that teachers are just very stressed,” Macpherson says. “They’re saying, ‘How am I going to manage everything? How am I going to get it all done?’”

Sullivan acknowledges that stressors have greatly increased as a result of the virus. He’s hopeful that those challenges are addressed as more and more people receive the vaccine for COVID-19.

“We want to be as supportive as we can and try to bolster people as we work towards that,” Sullivan says. “But that is a significant challenge, as well. We just don’t know how long that this is going to go on. We know we’re seeing vaccines that are starting to come now, but I think we’re going to be in this for a number of months more.”

Sullivan notes there have been several improvements to sanitation efforts throughout the district. However, the passion teachers have to ensure stability and safety for the students is what could keep this year on track.

“Teachers are doing an amazing job of keeping themselves safe, keeping kids safe and teacher,” Macpherson says. “[They] want to be in the classroom. They want to be working with kids.”