Quesnel’s Board of Education hopes to continue meeting face-to-face in the New Year.
A regular in-person meeting was held for the first time in more than a year on Wednesday, Dec. 15.
Tables were spaced apart at the Quesnel Junior School cafeteria, with trustees and staff wearing face masks that were only removed when speaking or eating and drinking.
“It was great to meet in person,” chair Tony Goulet said after.
“I think you get the body language, and you can feel the room, and we hope to continue having in-person meetings.”
Previous board meetings were held virtually over Zoom due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
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Goulet believes there were some frustrations with the online platform and said some technology is not the greatest, jokingly adding he was surprised a Google search of the word “Zoomitus” came up with results.
“It’s been hard, it’s been challenging,” Goulet said of COVID-19.
“The challenging part, I think for us as a board, is we can’t get into schools as much as we would have like to. That’s our job to visit schools and see what’s happening.”
A video featuring holiday art by École Red Bluff Lhtako Elementary students singing in the background was shown before the end of the board meeting.
“I miss Christmas concerts,” remarked outgoing superintendent Sue-Ellen Miller.
Outlining her report for Nov. 15 to Dec. 10., Miller highlighted the work she had been doing with secondary principals and said they are seeing the impact of the pandemic on student attendance and achievement.
Goulet said different meeting venues will be considered in the future.
A decision on potentially implementing a vaccine mandate for Quesnel School District teachers and staff has yet to be made.
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