Families frustrated by delay in testing unvaxxed school staff

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 09/09/2021 (1657 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Unvaccinated teachers, educational assistants and other support staff may not be required to undergo frequent testing for COVID-19 until Nov. 1 — much to the frustration of families with young students who cannot get a jab.

Manitoba has yet to publish protocols for public-sector employees who do not present proof of immunization, but the school boards association has sent its members details about verifying status and related items.

The document, which was sent after 3 p.m. on Tuesday, the first day of the 2021-22 school year, states rapid-testing kits for employee use are anticipated to arrive at schools during the first week of October.

It is Pembina Trails’ understanding that educators who are not fully vaccinated by Oct. 31, will be required to provide negative test results up to three times a week, said superintendent Ted Fransen.

“To be fair to employees who had up to this point, not (been) vaccinated, it’s only fair and appropriate that we give them a chance to respond. We can’t go back and undo what they hadn’t done,” said Fransen, noting there are stages in the province’s plan.

School staff are to have received an initial dose by Sept. 7 and a follow-up shot no later than two weeks before Halloween to forgo testing.

“It’s bonkers,” said Chandra Mayor, the legal guardian of a fourth grader at Mulvey School. “I really believed that all the staff at (my granddaughter’s) school would either be vaccinated or would be on their way to being vaccinated and would be tested in the meantime.”

As far as Mayor is concerned, a month or more without clear testing requirements for staff is a failure on the province’s part. “It’s not like it’s a surprise that school started on Sept. 8,” she added.

Winnipeg mother Julie Penner, who has two young school-age children, echoed those sentiments, saying she was “baffled” about the timeline.

Penner said she wants the province’s largest division, in which her kids study, to be a leader on the file.

“I know it’s obviously a super challenging time for everyone in education, but if you can see that other school divisions are able to do it, it shows you what is possible,” she said, adding she encourages elementary school teachers who are vaccinated to proactively disclose their status to parents to give them peace of mind.

On Thursday, Louis Riel administration released a breakdown of staff status: almost 95.9 per cent of permanent and term employees are fully immunized; 2.1 per cent are “on a journey to be fully vaccinated;” and 1.9 per cent have opted for testing at present.

Starting this week, staff who cannot prove full immunization status are required to submit negative tests throughout the work week — a result of the board’s proactivity in drawing up its own testing policy; unvaccinated individuals must get their nasal cavities swabbed at a provincial testing site until rapid-testing kits are made available through the province.

While specifics on employee testing across Manitoba have yet to be ironed out, Seven Oaks superintendent Brian O’Leary said the prospect alone has changed some of his staff members’ minds to get immunized.

“We hope that people see it as a step that they can take that helps further protect vulnerable kids,” said O’Leary. “It’s about everyone’s good and not individual choice, and I would hope people working in schools grasp that.”

maggie.macintosh@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @macintoshmaggie