COVID-19: Surrey to make masks mandatory for all K-12 students

The Surrey School District is following Vancouver’s lead and making masks mandatory for all students from Kindergarten to Grade 12.

District superintendent Jordan Tinney announced the change via Twitter on Wednesday. The new measure will take effect Monday, Oct. 4.

Currently, the province’s own COVID-19 guidelines only require masks to be worn by students in Grade 4 and up.

The move comes amid a marked increase in the number of COVID-19 cases affecting young children, who remain the largest group of unvaccinated people in the province.

Case numbers have also been steadily climbing in the Fraser Health region, accounting for more than a third of all new cases reported Wednesday.

The Surrey school district is also partnering with Fraser Health to look at hosting vaccine clinics at schools in communities with lagging vaccination rates.

Tinney said the district will promote the use of take-home COVID-19 gargle/rinse tests for kids who become symptomatic at school, and will continue to work with Fraser Health to ensure the case “notification processes are timely, transparent, and include information about clusters.”

The province has faced significant criticism from parents over a lack of notification about COVID-19 cases in the classroom, particularly after two outbreaks were declared in Lower Mainland schools last week.

On Monday, the Vancouver School Board voted to expand its mask mandate to cover all students. That policy will take effect on Monday as well.