Executive Offices fax: 604-871-2290

By email: EDUC.Minister@gov.bc.ca

September 1, 2020

Honourable Rob Fleming

Minister of Education
Parliament Buildings
Victoria, BC V8V 1X4

Dear Minister Fleming:

Many people in British Columbia were heartened when the federal government announced on August
26, 2020 that BC would receive over $242 million as part of the Safe Return to Class Fund. That
funding is a gamechanger for BC’s K–12 restart plan, and could be used in a proactive way to address
many of the health and safety concerns teachers and parents have as the school year is about to start.

Earlier this summer, you expressed confidence that the $45.6 million in funding from BC’s COVID-19
Action Plan was sufficient to fund the required increase in cleaning, hand-hygiene stations and the
availability of masks. That funding, especially to supply Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) for
teachers and support staff was very welcome. Our hope now is that the $242 million is spent on other
critical health and safety measures that promote physical distancing, the most important layer of
protection against the spread of COVID-19.

Specifically, the federal funding should be used to reduce school and classroom density to enable
teachers, support staff, and students to achieve physical distancing. The K–12 restart plan needs to
bridge the gap between the advice given to the public as a whole around physical distancing and the
reality facing our schools. Teachers and parents are being told to do one thing in their home and
community lives, but then told they can ignore the most important preventative measure, physical
distancing, in classrooms.

The learning group model is not a sufficient replacement for actual physical distancing. Our members
understand that it helps with contact tracing and controlling an outbreak, but they also see clearly that it
is a significant departure from best practices to prevent contracting COVID-19 or passing it on to a
loved one at home.

With $242 million in new funding from the federal government, we have a real opportunity to help
everyone stay safer. An opportunity to provide better protection for the people who work in our schools.

The BCTF is advocating on behalf of our members for:

• smaller classes to allow for physical distancing across all grades.
• hybrid and remote options in every school district to help reduce class sizes and school density as
well as protect students and staff members, or their families, who are more vulnerable because of
existing health concerns.
• assurance that students who opt into remote learning remain connected to their school and space is
available to them if they return to school in-person.

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Honourable Rob Fleming
September 1, 2020

• appropriate density and spacing for people working and learning in adult education, which is exempt
from learning groups, without reducing either the number of adults who can access programs or the
funding.
• more counsellors to support students in a trauma-informed manner.

Using the federal funding to meet these objectives will ensure workers are safer and students have
access to the education they need. We all want our schools to reopen and teachers want to welcome our
students back enthusiastically. However, the government has a duty and responsibility to make it as safe
as possible. With the federal funding you and your government now have the opportunity to make
much-needed improvements to the restart plan.

With solid hybrid and remote options in place, there will be teachers who need accommodations for
health reasons available to do this work. Similarly, support staff like Education Assistants (EAs) who
also need accommodations to stay safe will be available to support students remotely. This can all be
done without increasing workloads for teachers or support staff. There are also Teachers Teaching on
Call (TTOCs), included retired teachers, who could be engaged to do this work. With $242 million, it is
all possible.

BC teachers are ready to keep working with your government to get the restart plan right. Let’s work
together to ensure everyone in our schools is as safe as they can be.

Sincerely

Teri Mooring
President
TM/ch:tfeu

pc: Honourable John Horgan, Premier of British Columbia

Right Honourable Justin Trudeau, Prime Minister of Canada
Andrew Wilkinson, Leader of the Official Opposition
Dan Davies, Official Opposition Critic for Education
Andrea Sinclair, President, BCCPAC
Darren Danyluk, President, BCPVPA
Chris van der Mark, President, BCSSA
Stephanie Higginson, President, BCSTA
Flavia Coughlan, President, BCASBO
Paul Faoro, President, CUPE BC
Tyrone McNeil, President, FNESC
Thane Bonar, Director of Communications and Policy, FNESC
Debbie Jeffrey, Executive Director, FNESC
Ed Noot, President, FISA
Colleen Hodgson, Director, Métis Nation BC
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