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
BREAKING Trudeau promises $1B in loans for child-care providers to expand care centres
The federal government is launching a new loan program to help child-care providers in Canada expand their spaces, and will be extending further student loan forgiveness and training options for early childhood educators, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced Thursday.
Spring allergy season has begun. Where is it worse in Canada?
The spring allergy season has started early in many parts of Canada, with high levels of pollen in some cities already. Experts weigh in on which areas have it worse so far this season.
Ontario reveals highest public sector salaries in sunshine list
Ontario released its annual sunshine list Thursday afternoon, noting that the largest year-over-year increases were in hospitals, municipalities, and post-secondary sectors.
Several flight attendants from Pakistan have gone missing after landing in Canada
Multiple flight attendants from Pakistan International Airlines have abandoned their jobs and are believed to have sought asylum in Canada in the past year and a half, a spokesperson for the government-owned airline says.
N.B. man wins $64 million from Lotto 6/49
A New Brunswicker will go to bed Thursday night much richer than he was Wednesday after collecting on a winning lottery ticket he let sit on his bedroom dresser for nearly a year.
'Nonsense:' Doug Ford slams lawsuits filed by Ontario school boards against social media platforms
Premier Doug Ford says that lawsuits launched by four Ontario school boards against a trio of social media platforms are “nonsense” and risk becoming a distraction to the work that really matters.
Multiple bridges in Calgary shut down for police incident
Calgary police have shut down a number of bridges into and out of the downtown core as officers deal with a distraught individual.
King Charles calls for acts of friendship in first public remarks since Kate's cancer diagnosis
King Charles III gave public remarks for Maundy Thursday, addressing the importance of acts of friendship, following his and Catherine, Princess of Wales’ cancer diagnoses.
Fallen crypto mogul Sam Bankman-Fried sentenced to 25 years in prison
Crypto entrepreneur Sam Bankman-Fried was sentenced Thursday to 25 years in prison for a massive fraud that unravelled with the collapse of FTX, once one of the world's most popular platforms for exchanging digital currency.