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
Appeals court overturns Harvey Weinstein's 2020 rape conviction from landmark trial
New York’s highest court on Thursday overturned Harvey Weinstein’s 2020 rape conviction, finding the judge at the landmark #MeToo trial prejudiced the ex-movie mogul with improper rulings, including a decision to let women testify about allegations that weren’t part of the case.
BREAKING Honda to get up to $5B in govt help for EV battery, assembly plants
Honda is set to build an electric vehicle battery plant next to its Alliston, Ont., assembly plant, which it is retooling to produce fully electric vehicles, all part of a $15-billion project that is expected to include up to $5 billion in public money.
MPP Sarah Jama asked to leave Ontario legislature for wearing keffiyeh
MPP Sarah Jama was asked to leave the Legislative Assembly of Ontario by House Speaker Ted Arnott on Thursday for wearing a keffiyeh, a garment that is banned at Queen’s Park.
CTE: Researchers believe widespread brain injury may contribute to veteran suicide rate
Researchers are working to better understand if some Canadian military veterans may be suffering from Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy, also known as CTE -- a disorder previously found in the brains of professional football and hockey players after their death.
1 arrested in northern Alberta during public shelter order
Residents of John D'Or Prairie, a community on the Little Red River Cree Nation in northern Alberta, were told to take shelter Thursday morning during a police operation.
Secret $70M Lotto Max winners break their silence
During a special winner celebration near their hometown, Doug and Enid shared the story of how they discovered they were holding a Lotto Max ticket worth $70 million and how they kept this huge secret for so long.
Remains from a mother-daughter cold case were found nearly 24 years later, after a deathbed confession from the suspect
A West Virginia father is getting some sense of closure after authorities found the remains of his young daughter and her mother following a deathbed confession from the man believed to have fatally shot them nearly two decades ago.
New deep-water channel allows first ship to pass Key bridge wreckage in Baltimore
The first cargo ship passed through a newly opened deep-water channel in Baltimore on Thursday after being stuck in the harbor since the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapsed four weeks ago, halting most maritime traffic through the city's port.
First in Canada procedure performed at London, Ont. hospital
A London man has become the first person in Canada to receive a robotic assisted surgery on his spine. Dave Myeh suffered from debilitating, chronic back pain that led to sciatica in his right now and extreme pain in his lower back.