The Terrace District Teachers’ Union is calling on provincial politicians and Coast Mountains School District 82 trustees to improve safety in schools amidst the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.

In a Dec. 15 media release, Joslyn Bagg, president of the Terrace District Teachers’ Union called on Nathan Cullen, MLA for Stikine and Ellis Ross, MLA for Skeena, as well as trustees to do more to combat the spread of COVID-19 in schools.

“All students and teachers deserve to be safe. Students and teachers should be wearing masks all the time. Too many classes cannot safely distance and some classes have poor ventilation. Contact tracing is well after the fact,” said Bagg in the release.

“Many teachers do not feel safe.”

There have been multiple recent COVID-19 exposures at schools in the Terrace area. Bagg lists proposed improvements to increase safety in the media release, including better transparency surrounding exposure notices and contact tracing, mandatory masks, improved ventilation in classrooms and reduced class sizes.

ALSO READ: Third COVID-19 exposure reported at Suwilaawks Community School in Terrace

“The Terrace and District Teachers’ Union believes that a fully funded education system is the bedrock of a democratic society, and that teachers should have the same protections during COVID-19 that other workers in the province have,” the release states.

The Terrace Standard has reached out to Nathan Cullen and Ellis Ross for comment. More to come.

READ MORE: Terrace teacher exposed to COVID-19 irked by 1-week lag in notification at his school

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