The board of Nanaimo Ladysmith Public Schools has voted to bring in a vaccine mandate for district employees as COVID-19 continues to spread.
Board chairwoman Charlene McKay said the board made “a thoughtful and informed” choice in establishing a vaccine mandate. The decision follows a review of provincial guidelines, she said.
“The board’s goal is to keep schools open and continue to create a safe and caring environment,” she said, adding that it considers vaccination to be the “best protection against the virus by reducing transmission and reducing complication brought on by COVID-19.”
Unvaccinated workers will not be fired but will have to take regular tests, she said. “Testing will be two times per week and we likely won’t get to that until after spring break.”
Some sectors have put unvaccinated people on leave in the face of a mandate, but McKay doesn’t know of any repercussions in this case.
“It’s all going to come out in the procedures, which we just don’t have yet,” she said. “There’s still lots of stuff to work out.”
The district is the only one on the Island with a vaccine mandate and one of just a handful in the province, which has 60 school districts.
“What it’s come down to for us is there’s just so much going on and there are so many changes with COVID-19,” McKay said.
She said it is expected that a future board meeting will provide information for trustees on the steps for determining employees’ vaccination status and plans for testing unvaccinated employees. Testing would come after allowing “sufficient time” for all employees to get the vaccine, she said.
The implementation process will take at least six weeks, McKay said, and ensuring people’s privacy will be an important component.
Nanaimo District Teachers’ Association president Jeremy Inscho said he is eager for more information on how things will proceed.
Inscho said his group has always believed that those who can get vaccinated should do so, but if people are not vaccinated at this point, he doesn’t see a mandate changing their minds.
He suspects the vaccination rate among district teachers is high. “We know the general population for 18-plus is 89 per cent double-dosed, so we expect teachers to be at least that.”
McKay said a voluntary survey of employees in the fall indicated that 93 per cent were vaccinated. The survey had a response rate of 52 per cent.
Representatives for unions, parents, First Nations, Metis, Inuit and other groups are being consulted on the mandate, and the school district will comply with people not wanting a vaccine due to medical reasons or human-rights considerations.
On the south Island, the Sooke School Board brought in a rule in December that all newly hired workers must be vaccinated, but did not pass a full staff mandate. The Greater Victoria School Board voted against a mandate in December while the Saanich School Board hasn’t held a mandate vote and has no discussions planned on the issue.
The Cowichan Valley School Board also voted a vaccine mandate down, which chairwoman Candace Spilsbury called a “tremendously hard” decision.
