If you don’t have to come into school, don’t.
That’s the message from Surrey school district superintendent Jordan Tinney.
“Unless your principal or site director has communicated directly with you, about the need to be on site from March 30 to April 3, then we’re asking you, stay away from school sites so that we can keep them clean, so that we can arrange rotations for some staff to gather materials and resources if absolutely necessary and for us to be able to monitor who’s on site and to continue to keep our sites clean and safe for all,” Tinney said in a video message Wednesday afternoon (March 25).
He added that if teachers need “technology or photocopying,” then the district needs to know when they will be in the building, who will use the photocopier, along with a cleaning protocol after each use, and any classrooms they’ve visited.
Tinney said to anticipate that when staff begin work on Monday, for a “vast majority,” that work will be done from home.
Watch Tinney’s video below:
What does March 30th look like in Surrey Schools? Video message for all Surrey staff and plan for communications ahead. #sd36learn @Surrey_Schools @CUPE728 @SurreyTeachers Teachers Parent/Student message tomorrow. #SurreyBC #WhiteRock #Cloverdale https://t.co/kaTkCa19pa
— Jordan Tinney (@jordantinney) March 25, 2020
Tinney said that this week teams have been working on an “in-depth plan” for the first week after spring break. He said that principals will be sharing their plans with staff by the end of this week.
Meantime, he said “key messages” are to come for teachers “about how you and your colleagues can form teams online and begin to consider what the early stages of instructional design looks like in this new era.”
Next week, Tinney said, will set the expectations about what this new working environment will look like.
“Please do not expect that the working remotely stance will change on week two or three, but just given the vastly changing daily landscape and the flow of information, we simply want to set the stage for week one so that you know what to expect,” he said. “By the end of that first week, there will no doubt be much more information and many more questions to answer.”
On Monday (March 23), Tinney posted a video message to Grade 12 students, who may be worried about what their final months of high school will look like.
READ ALSO: ‘You’ll have lots of questions’: Surrey superintendent’s message to Grade 12s, March 25, 2020
It was on March 17 that the B.C. government announced it would be suspending K-12 classes indefinitely due to COVID-19.
Education Minister Rob Fleming said all students who are currently on track to move onto the next grade, or to graduate, will do so and the province is working with post-secondary institutions.
Students in the Surrey school district are officially on spring break until Monday (March 30).
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