The education director for Prairie South School Division understands that not everyone agrees with new procedures governing COVID-19 vaccinations — or others’ perspectives on the issue — but urged people to respect both anyway.
Division administration presented Administrative Procedure (AP) 420: COVID-19 Safety for Employees, Other Individuals and Trustees during the Nov. 2 board of education meeting. Trustees were told that the division office would post the administrative procedure and a supporting FAQ document to the division website and email both to employees.
Trustees asked director of education Ryan Boughen to create a vaccination procedure following a heated meeting about the issue in October. Boughen and senior administration crafted a draft document before presenting it during a strategic meeting on Oct. 26.
Following further input from trustees at that meeting, the division office finalized the procedure.
Vaccination guidelines
Prairie South staff must provide proof of vaccination to the division by Wednesday, Dec. 22, while non-employees must provide proof to the principal or other division-designated personnel upon entering a building, according to the AP.
Meanwhile, staff and other individuals who are unable or unwilling to disclose their vaccination status — staff will not be forced to get the jab — must undergo COVID-19 self-testing. Those individuals must then provide a negative test — at their own expense — to the principal, immediate supervisor or designated personnel.
“Employees who fail to comply with this procedure may be subjected to disciplinary action,” the AP added. “Other individuals who fail to comply with this procedure may be restricted from attending Prairie South facilities for such duration as may be determined by the school division.”
The AP will be fully implemented in January.
Show respect, please
“I believe that we — administration and the board — are a team and work together and highly value the board’s input,” Boughen said.
“It is a very challenging time for a very polarizing item, and it was really important that we had a chance to make sure we are all aligned in our thinking and how we want this to roll out because it will have impact on our schools, employees and communities.”
Implementing a vaccination-related procedure has been a wedge issue, which is regrettable since it didn’t need to be and was caused by the divisive approach people took in discussing it, Boughen continued.
He and other division superintendents met with all employee groups to explain the need and the goal of creating safe conditions in schools. Moreover, the division office received plenty of medical advice from public health officers and the province about creating these guidelines.
“I recognize that not everyone agrees with that (need for a procedure) and that other people can find other people to support that we shouldn’t be doing this work. I recognize that too,” the education director said.
“What has been divisive in my opinion is that people are very aggressive in their points of view and that we could get through this much easier if we respected different people’s points of view and we accepted where people are. And the heart of our AP does that.”
The COVID-19 administrative procedure allows for freedom of choice — something not everyone agrees with — since the division is not mandating the vaccination but is simply creating the safest environment for everyone, Boughen continued. The division office also analyzed the costs of COVID-19 tests and believes it will not be a financial hardship for people who must provide weekly tests.
“We want to do this work in a very respectful way. And we ask that people that don’t align their thinking with our thinking, that they be respectful too … ,” he added. “The board has made a choice. I’m asking that people respect the choice of the board.”
The next PSSD board meeting is Tuesday, Dec. 7.
