Students are getting ready for a very different school year. One question lingering will be how face masks factor in.

(KATHY MICHAELS / iNFOnews.ca)

A West Kelowna teen is trying to drum up community support and have area students and teachers mask-up once the school year begins.

Sorsha Perry, 16,  started the petition and directed it toward Central Okanagan schools superintendent Kevin Kaardal.

“One week ago, B.C. announced that school will be going back in September, however, they stated masks will not be mandatory. Regions like the Interior Health are facing massive outbreaks with 149 cases connected to Kelowna Canada day celebrations,” Perry wrote in her Change.org petition, which has gained 240 of the desired 500 signatures to date.

“If masks do not become mandatory in schools children will get sick and our cases will only continue to rise," she wrote.

Individual district plans are in the works, superintendent Kaardal said. For the Central Okanagan, the plan will be published Aug. 26.

“We’re trying to make sure it’s as safe as possible and we’re going to have protocols in place,” he said. “We’re following the provincial health and regional health officer’s guidance.”

That said, he knows parents are reading different approaches from different health officers across the country and it’s confusing and overwhelming.

Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry is the person who could mandate mask-wearing in schools, and she’s said that she won't, though she's also said that changes on procedures change as the pandemic drags on and new lessons are learned.

"We absolutely do see masks in certain aspects of school being important, particularly where adults aren't together and where children can't maintain those safe distances," Dr. Henry said at a recent press conference. "But no, we have no intention of making mandatory masks and I actually don't believe there's evidence to support mask-wearing by children in the classroom setting."

Dr. Henry said, today Aug. 10, there are lots of things that are known about how this virus is transmitted in settings, such as classrooms.

"There's the way people are sitting, which way they're facing, whether they have distance between them and the types of activities (they're) doing," she said. "Every setting is different, but there are opportunities for schools to look at."

Some of the changes that may be seen include minimizing the amount of other things that are in the classroom, furniture, etc., and looking at how to improve ventilation.

"I think masking is really important in those situations where particularly adults are getting together or older children are in situations where they can't maintain at least a meter distance," Dr. Henry said. "And those are the types of things that every school will have to look at. There is a role for masks absolutely, but they are, as I've said, one of the layers of protection that we have and we're building in many layers."

Also, she said students will be sorted into learning groups to reduce the number of people they come in contact with. For elementary and middle school students, groups will be no larger than 60.

Secondary school groups will be capped at pods of 120. Students and staff don't need to maintain physical distancing within their learning group, but contact should be minimized. 

B.C. is not alone with its approach to mask-wearing, Manitoba, Nunavut, Nova Scotia, Nunavut and the Yukon all say masks are a personal choice.  

Meanwhile, Canada's chief public health officer Dr. Theresa Tam seems to be leaning in another direction.

Last week, she said last week the Public Health Agency of Canada will soon be publishing detailed guidelines that include a recommendation that children over the age of 10 wear masks at school.

"Non-medical masks play a role in reducing transmission of COVID-19 in a school environment," Tam said at a press conference. "Wearing these masks is an additional personal layer of protection."

Tam said experts are still learning about the role children play in the transmission of COVID-19 and conceded masks are one of many tools that can be used to prevent the spread.

In Saskatchewan, staff are not required to wear masks or eye protection except when in close contact with someone who is sick. The province said they should only be used when "all other controls have been fully explored."

In Quebec, students Grade 5 and up will be required to wear masks in hallways, but not classrooms. Alberta and Ontario have made mask-wearing mandatory for staff and students in Grades 4 through 12. They will be strongly encouraged for younger kids when they're in indoor common areas.

—Correction: This story initially said Perry was a parent.

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