A Maple Ridge mother wants to be able to watch school sports, and questions why our district is still not allowing parents into gymnasiums.
Jackie Catherwood noted that the Vancouver Canucks were just allowed to have full capacity, almost 19,000 fans, at their Tuesday night home opener at Rogers Arena. As COVID-19 restrictions have relaxed, and vaccination rates increased, other venues have also opened to the public.
“It’s very frustrating as we see hockey games go to full capacity, yet I can’t watch my kid play a volleyball game. There are many frustrated parents!” said Jackie Catherwood, adding most parents would choose to watch their children over attending pro sports events or concerts.
She noted neighbouring school districts are allowing parents to attend school functions.
School District 42 spokesperson Irena Pochop said the district is following regulations set out by the Health Ministry and public health. She noted the issue is not a problem with being able to check that everyone is vaccinated – which is required at Canucks games and other events.
“Proof of vaccination is not required to attend indoor school events, but schools must have the capacity to do contact tracing if they are to open their events to spectators/the public,” said Pochop.
“If schools assess that they do not have the resources to manage attendance and contact tracing, they must keep these events closed to the public. Ministry guidelines stipulate it is up to each individual school/school district to determine if they have this capacity.”
Other Lower Mainland schools are taking steps to allow parents to attend school functions. According to a Black Press reporter, there were spectators at a volleyball tournament at Semiahmoo Secondary on Friday. Contact tracing was set up at the gym door, with a large QR code sitting on a desk. Those entering would scan the code, and it opened a web page for a form where they would input their name and phone number.
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