With the battle over masking in B.C. schools now behind, the fight over who should order mandatory vaccinations for school staff is heating up.
Yesterday, the province fell short of ordering a B.C.-wide vaccine mandate for teachers, leaving 60 districts across the province to decide for themselves.
That has at least one teacher in Victoria worried.
“We’re not opposed to a vaccine mandate, but it is the health authorities. They should be making that decision, not the school district as the employer,” said Winona Waldron, President of the Greater Victoria Teacher’s Association.
The B.C. Liberals also took aim at the province’s patchwork approach in question period at the B.C. legislature today.
“Parents across bc are frantic and worried about the explosion of COVID-19 exposures in their school and the premier wants to make it worse, instead of providing the leadership they’re looking for,” said the Official Opposition Education Critic Jackie Tegart.
“We do not have a public health order that would allow a provincial approach,” said Education Minister Jennifer Whiteside in response. “We’re in a situation where school boards are the employers of staff.”
Health officials have still not identified schools as a high-risk area for COVID-19, therefore no public health order has been issued. As a result, a vaccine mandate is up to the employer.
Some in the education system, say teachers should already be vaccinated.
“It would be really nice if we weren’t in a position where we had to think about this. If you work with children, particularly children in the unvaccinated age group, I believe you have a moral responsibility to go get vaccinated,” said Stephanie Higginson, President of the BC School Trustees Association.
The problem is, no one really knows how many teachers across the province are or are not vaccinated.
“I think it would be helpful, and I know that discussion is happening at the BCTF level,” said Waldron.
In the meantime, the province is going over the logistics with the BC Public School Employers’ Association, the representative bargaining agent for the province’s 60 school board employers.
“The BC Public School Employers’ Association has been consulting with key government representatives, legal counsel, and partners, and is working with the Ministry of Education’s ad-hoc advisory committee to develop a coordinated and collaborative approach to mandatory vaccination policies in the K-12 sector. We will be connecting with school districts over the coming days. Further guidance will then follow,” said the BC Public School Employers Association to CHEK News in a statement.
The final decision will ultimately be up to the school districts and respective unions, making a patchwork of vaccine mandates in schools across the province a possibility.
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Kori Sidaway
