Stakeholders upset over lack of consultation for SD57 vaccine mandate decision

The Prince George District Teachers Association, CUPE Local 3742 along with the SD57 Parent Advisory Council all say they were not consulted prior to the decision.

Sharel Warrington, Chair of the SD57 Board of Education says there was no vote to decide to proceed without a vaccination mandate, instead, the committee in charge came down to a consensus-based ending.

“The exposures in our district are very very low,” says Warrington. “We know that parents were very concerned that we might go with a mandate, and we know there are those that are very concerned about the health and safety of their children in schools.”

Warrington says the board weighed two major factors in making the decision not to proceed with a mandate.

The first was the immediate effect a mandate would have on student learning given the estimated loss of 30-40 teaching staff while the district is in the midst of a serious teaching and learning staff shortage.

The second was the low COVID-19 transmission reported in schools. The Board referenced that Northern Health had only reported 13 school exposures to date as of last week.

“Our message is we will make every effort to ensure the health and safety of all students, all staff in our schools,” says Warrington.

The reporting of school exposures is a topic Northern Health has come under fire for multiple times recently, as of Tuesday, the BC School COVID tracker had reported roughly 30 exposures at SD57 schools, nearly double the number of Northern Health.

School District 57 follows several other districts in BC to make the decision not to mandate COVID-19 vaccines for staff at this time, although that could change as needed according to Warrington.

by Caden Fanshaw

Stakeholders upset over lack of consultation for SD57 vaccine mandate decision

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