Technolandy

Day 128 (2025/26) Interesting news for staff and students in online learning environments who have pets at home…

When students and staff work remotely, that means they work at home. For the most part, things are great.

However, a concern has recently been raised regarding animals “on site.” While this has traditionally referred to animals within physical school buildings, the definition of “site” has now been expanded to include any location where learning or work occurs—including private residences.

I know, I know. But we take time to explore Administrative Procedures, and todays look is on: AP 255 – Animals on District Property  https://media.sd47.bc.ca/media/Default/medialib/ap_255_animals_on_district_property.8685f06243.pdf 

Under updated interpretations aligned with district expectations, any animal present in a learning environment must now be:

• documented

• assessed for suitability

• and, where appropriate, approved

This includes (but is not limited to):

• dogs appearing in the background of video calls

• cats walking across keyboards during instructional time

• birds contributing audio during synchronous sessions

• reptiles observing silently (but still present)

In order to ensure compliance, staff and families will be asked to complete a Home-Based Animal Presence Declaration (HBAPD) prior to April 15.

Additional steps may include:

• submitting a recent photo of the animal “in its typical learning”

• outlining the animal’s role in the learning environment (companion, observer, uninvited participant)

• confirming that the animal has not disrupted instructional continuity more than three times per week

Please note:

Animals demonstrating ongoing engagement (e.g., appearing regularly on camera, responding to student names, or attending meetings unprompted) may be reclassified as informal participants and require further documentation.

Of course this also means that based on the HBAPD, we may need to ban some pets from learning environments: if something can distract, as many places have learned and experimented with technology, it must be controlled, documented, and eventually domesticated into compliance. Pets, like screens and social media, become convenient culprits in a world that struggles to admit a quieter truth: distraction isn’t an external invader, it’s part of being human. A dog wandering through a Zoom call isn’t so different from a wandering mind during a staff meeting, yet only one gets a form attached to it. In trying to sanitize learning environments down to uninterrupted, camera-ready productivity, we risk sanding off the very texture that makes them real. After all, a cat on a keyboard may briefly derail a lesson, but it also reminds us that learning doesn’t happen in sterile boxes, it happens in living, breathing spaces where unpredictability is not a bug, but a feature.

Further guidance, including the “Pet Participation Rubric,” will be shared after we get feedback from our staff meeting on April 1. Okay: not as thrilling as Chris Kennedy’s annual “West Vancouver Initiative” https://cultureofyes.ca/2026/04/01/breaking-news-ai-report-cards-because-why-should-teachers-have-all-the-fun/ but it definitely “got” some of my staff!