Prince George passed up for K-12 rapid response team placement.

* Nanaimo-Ladysmith for the Island Health region;

* Central Okanagan for the Interior Health region;

* Peace River North for the Northern Health region

* Vancouver for the Vancouver Coastal Health region.

Joanne Hapke, President of the Prince George District Teacher Association says; the response team for the North would come somewhere with a bigger population

” They’re up in Peace River North, and so I did a quick scan of peace river north in the schools. So, they have about 24 schools up there, which is great. We have about Double that in just Prince George alone and you would think that they would come to the highest level of population.”

Stephen Petrucci, who is the superintendent for school district 60 in Fort St. John says it wasn’t about picking one place over the other.

“it’s just who was available as I mentioned both Prince George and Fort St. John are a couple of larger districts in the north and the ministry reached out.” “We do have a dedicated health safety officer and at this point and at this point had the capacity and the willingness to help out”

Education Minister Jennifer Whiteside released a statement that reads:

“Rapid response teams are a critically important addition to the health and safety measures that are keeping schools safe for students and staff,” “As the pandemic evolves, these teams will help us respond quickly and adapt, where necessary, to ensure best practices are being consistently applied throughout the education sector.”

Hapke says she hopes more teams will be deployed, including a team specifically here in Prince George;

” I expect that they will be coming to Prince George, they were supposed to be supporting us with our health and safety measures and looking through the guidelines and all of that, So. I hope they come here.”

The government says in a statement the teams will work with staff at schools, school districts, and health authorities to review significant exposures to the virus. Hapke says this is a concern, as many in the education system feel left in the dark.

” Once again, teachers are not always talked to when decisions are being made and we are the ones that are front line workers here, covid or no covid we are the ones implementing curriculum and we should always be part of that conversation. ”

The B.C.’s COVID-19 response for K-12 education has $288 million in one-time, provincial, and federal funding which has been allocated to schools and districts, including $3.5 million to manage COVID-19 exposures in schools.

by Randi-Marie Adams

Prince George passed up for K-12 rapid response team placement.

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