BC Students Might Be Going Back To School Before Summer Starts

British Columbia's schools have remained closed for nearly a month during the pandemic. Though it's been unclear if or when they will re-open, there is now hope that students may be back in their classrooms before the summer. On Tuesday, April 14, the province's education minister, Rob Fleming, said that it's possible that B.C. schools might reopen before the beginning of summer since the COVID-19 curve is starting to flatten in the province.

Fleming spoke on CBC's radio show The Early Edition on Tuesday to discuss how schools and students are faring in light of the COVID-19 crisis. During the interview, he also shared his optimism that school might not be out for the summer. 

On Saturday, April 11, Dr. Bonnie Henry, the Chief Medical Officer Of Health in B.C., said that it will be a few weeks before the province sets a date for when the schools can reopen. For now, the kids are going to have to stay at home and continue virtual learning. 

However, that raises the possibility that the schools might actually reopen open before or during summer. Fleming said that it's definitely a possibility, although the province will still have to be cautious about their decision. 

"We have to rely on medical and scientific advice in terms of our guidance about when and if its safe to reopen schools," he said. 

The province closed all public schools on March 17. Since then, there has been evidence that B.C. is slowly starting to flatten the curve. 

The curve basically refers to the number of people that get infected with the disease over a period of time. So if a lot of new people get infected within a short span of time, the curve will be steep.

If a more consistent number of people get infected over a longer period of time, then the curve will start to flatten.

But just because this curve is starting to flatten doesn't mean the pandemic is over. Social distancing measures are still ongoing in our province, meaning the kids are going to be doing their learning at home until further notice. 

Fleming said that it's up to Dr. Bonnie Henry to decide when the schools will open again.

In his opinion, he thinks that schools should reopen when the province records no new cases and the risk of reinfection or outbreak is low to "almost zero." 

"We're in a good place for a whole bunch of reasons," he said. He added that the schools have contributed to how things have started to stabilize in British Columbia so they don't want to jeopardize things at the moment.