Vaccine mandates for teachers and school staff left up to school divisions: SSBA
As COVID-19 cases continue to rise in schools, the Saskatchewan School Boards Association (SSBA) says it will leave vaccine requirements for teachers and staff to individual school divisions.
Shawn Davidson, SSBA president, said the association is supporting individual school divisions that have drafted vaccine policies.
“Our member school divisions are each autonomous to make decisions that are best for their division and for their local context,” said Davidson. “So what we have done is provided them with information that each of our boards around the province is considering around a mandatory vaccination policy.”
The SSBA has been providing draft administrative procedures to all school divisions, but the only option they have is to leave the decision entirely up to divisions.
”This is something that boards have been looking at for some time,” said Davidson. “Certainly with the direction we received from the province last week (that) strongly encourages employers like us to consider a vaccination policy.”
The Saskatchewan Teachers’ Federation (STF) has been calling for mandatory vaccinations within the school board since August. Patrick Maze, STF president, said the school divisions have been left out to dry.
“Our belief that everyone in our buildings should be vaccinated everyone who is eligible and I mean it’s unfortunate that both the government and the SSBA now are hanging school divisions out to dry to make their decisions on their own.” Said Maze
Based on member feedback, the STF said the vaccine rate among teachers is believed to be very high
CTV News reached out to several school divisions to find out what policies are being put into place and only one responded. Saskatoon Public Schools says a decision has not yet been made on vaccination policies.
The Ministry of Education released a statement saying that it encourages school divisions to follow the province's direction. Saskatchewan announced last week it would require all government employees to be fully vaccinated or provide consistent proof of negative COVID-19 tests.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Trend Line Anger, pessimism towards federal government reach six-year high: Nanos survey
Most Canadians in March reported feeling angry or pessimistic towards the federal government than at any point in the last six years, according to a survey by Nanos Research.
BREAKING 14 suspects arrested in grandparent scam targeting seniors across Canada: Ontario police
An interprovincial investigation into a 'grandparents scam' that targeted seniors across Canada has led to the arrest of 14 suspects, Ontario Provincial Police say.
B.C. child killer's lawyer walks out of review hearing
The lawyer representing child-killer Allan Schoenborn walked out of his client's annual review hearing Wednesday – abruptly ending proceedings marked by tense exchanges and several outbursts.
How to avoid the trap of becoming 'house poor'
The journey to home ownership can be exciting, but personal finance columnist Christopher Liew warns about the trappings of becoming 'house poor' -- where an overwhelming portion of your income is devoured by housing costs. Liew offers some practical strategies to maintain better financial health while owning a home.
'A living nightmare': Winnipeg woman sentenced following campaign of harassment against man after online date
A Winnipeg woman was sentenced to house arrest after a single date with a man she met online culminated in her harassing him for years, and spurred false allegations which resulted in the innocent man being arrested three times.
Juror dismissed in Trump hush money trial as prosecutors ask for former president to face contempt
Prosecutors in the hush money trial of Donald Trump asked Thursday for the former president to be held in contempt and fined because of seven social media posts that they said violated a judge's gag order barring him from attacking witnesses.
Why drivers in Ontario, Quebec and Atlantic Canada will see a gas price spike, and other Canadians won't
Drivers in Eastern Canada face a big increase in gas prices because of various factors, especially the higher cost of the summer blend, industry analysts say.
It's the biggest election in history. Here's why few Indians in Canada will take part
In the Indian general election that gets underway on Friday, almost a billion people are eligible to vote, but a vast majority of the overseas Indian community in Canada won't be casting a ballot.
McDonald's customers left with 'zero value' collection of free hot drink stickers after company ends program
It took years for Vinnie Deluca to collect more than 400 cards worth of free McDonald's McCafe coffee, a collection that now has "zero value" after the company discontinued the program.