FILE PHOTO.

(BEN BULMER / iNFOnews.ca)

It's clear from the exhaustion in the teacher's voice that deciding not to enter the classroom and teach their pupils at Armstrong Elementary has taken its toll.

At the kindergarten to Grade 5 school, around 30 per cent of pupils in some classes aren't wearing masks.

"It was so discouraging for so many, that it started to impact mental health," an Armstrong Elementary teacher that wanted to remain anonymous told iNFOnews.ca. "Teachers just felt depleted and exhausted and drained so they called in sick... they didn't just walk off the job, they said this is not good for my mental health right now."

The Armstrong Elementary teacher said six staff stayed off sick either because they had caught COVID-19 or they decided they couldn't work face-to-face with so many of the children at the school refusing to wear masks.

The teacher said in one class, seven out of 20 students have mask exemptions – more than one-third of the class isn't wearing a mask.

"A few teachers just morally and ethically hit a wall in that we have a duty and a right to protect all these students, and at what point does the public and... parents get to know that these other children are in a classroom with unmasked students," the teacher said. "Parents are sending their kids to school thinking that people are wearing masks for the most part and they have no idea that 30 to 35 per cent of the class is unmasked."

READ MORE: High number of students with mask 'exemptions' force North Okanagan school closure

While it didn't publicly say that teachers had refused in-classroom teaching, School District 83 "functionally closed" the school Jan. 14 due to staff shortages. A planned two-day closure was then extended to Jan. 21.

The teacher said their colleagues were worried about the number of unmasked kids for various reasons.

"It was concerning for several teachers because some of us have children at home that have compromised health, or spouses at home due to comprised health, due to cancer treatments and prior history with cancer," the teacher said. "There are teachers that take care of elderly parents in their homes... there are children in classrooms that have loved ones at home... siblings or grandparents that are also compromised."

While some may think of a teacher standing in front of a room full of kids as a standard day at school, those days are long gone.

"We know so much more about how to teach children... we're face-to-face with kids, we're in small groups next to them for extended periods of time... for five hours a day we're exposed to unmasked children," they said.

And the parents of the masked children likely don't realize that their kids are in classes with multiple unmasked children every day.

The parents of unmasked kids were asked if some accommodations could be made such as wearing a mask in the busy hallways or when singing in music class.

"A few made concessions, but several did not," they said.

After the school closed, WorkSafe B.C. was contacted and a refusal for unsafe work claim was submitted.

"We just need more tools so we viewed WorkSafe as a possible tool to help solve the problem," the teacher said.

They hoped it could bring the situation to the Ministry of Education's attention. They also hoped the Ministry may provide online learning for those refusing to wear masks.

To put the number of unmasked kids at Armstrong Elementary in context, Okanagan-Shuswap Teachers Association president Graham Gomme previously told iNFOnews.ca Shuswap Middle School has 650 students and only six mask exemptions, while Sorrento Elementary School has roughly 220 students and only four mask exemptions.

Armstrong Elementary has roughly 250 pupils and about 40 mask exemptions.

For a student to qualify for a mask exemption they don't need a doctor's note, just the say-so from their parents.

While mask exemptions do exist for children unable to wear a mask, the unmasked kids at Armstrong Elementary don't appear to have any justifiable reason.

"Of those exemptions, none of them were for special needs children," the teacher said adding that the special needs kids all wear masks.

"It's not reasonable to expect kids and teachers…to share a space for such length of a day with so many children unmasked that could be masked... and we know from health professionals that wearing masks helps reduce the spread of covid."

And unfortunately, the stance from the parents of the unmasked kids has gotten harsher.

"(When it was introduced in the fall) it wasn't well-received by a group of parents, and then over the Christmas break when Omicron really started to become a concern, that's when the mask exemptions actually increased for our school," the teacher said.

Last September some School District 83 schools were also the target of anti-vaxxers with protesters entering several schools in Salmon Arm.

The teacher said there were also protests at Armstrong Elementary in the fall.

"I feel so sad that so much work and effort gets put into this for these families and these children and something like just wearing a mask and asking kids to try wearing a mask is viewed as impossible," the teacher said. "It's such a little ask."

But teachers aren't looking for division.

"I just want to do what's best for the whole, for everybody, there's a greater good out there collectively... yes I understand that they may disagree with (mask-wearing), but their choices are impacting so many others," they said. "It's not just all about one individual, those individuals are impacting so many."

And the school's closure also has a dramatic effect on the 200 or so families that now need to organize how their kids will be at home during the week.

One solution to cut down on those using a mask exemption as an excuse not to wear a mask is to have the province mandate that exemptions can only be issued by medical professionals.

The teacher would like to see that change.

The school district didn't answer the question when directly asked whether the province should mandate doctor's notes for kids to get exemptions.

"We along with the rest of the province have a Provincial Health Order we are all supposed to be following. We are hopeful that parents will continue to cooperate with us regarding the details of the order to ensure the safety of all students and staff," School District 83 Superintendent Donna Kriger said in an email. "I'm hopeful we can 'work together' so that when this is all over, we have our relationships intact."

And the Ministry of Health isn't prepared to make that change either.

"Schools and school districts are responsible for addressing (mask) exceptions, and school staff work with parents and families if a child is unable to wear a mask at school," the Ministry of Health said in an email.

And for the teachers the situation is stressful.

"I want more than anything else to be back in the classroom with children. I want to be able to provide that opportunity face-to-face with them and I know all the other teachers feel the same, this is not where we want to be," they said.

But after more than a week of teaching online, the school district has now confirmed the school will re-open on Jan. 24.

It's unclear whether the school district brought in new teachers or whether the half a dozen teachers that originally went off agreed to return.

The teacher iNFOnews.ca spoke to said it was a gamble to go back.

"The Ministry has made no improvements to rules around mask exemptions, therefore I have no choice but to roll the dice," they said.

"My family depends on my employment. I wish I was able to take a leave and know that financially we could survive, but we would not."

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