The Sooke School Board says it will require any new district employees to be vaccinated, but isn’t imposing a vaccine mandate on existing staff.
The board says it will continue to monitor the COVID-19 situation and could eventually enact a vaccine mandate for all employees.
“Effective immediately, any offer of employment to new hires will be conditional upon proof of vaccination status or an accommodation based on a human-rights exemption,” board chairman Ravi Parmar said Tuesday.
Parmar said the fast-growing district has been hiring teachers, and expects to hire bus drivers and custodians in January.
He said legal advice provided to the board indicated it would take about six weeks for a full vaccine mandate to come into effect, including time to consult with unions and a notice period for those affected. He said many school boards are concerned a full vaccine mandate could make existing labour shortages worse.
Parmar stressed the need for the district’s workers and families to get vaccinated. He said about half the district’s employees responded to a survey about vaccination status at the beginning of November, with about 92 per cent of respondents indicating they had had their first or second dose.
The board chair said he believes the Sooke district is the only one in B.C. to direct a vaccine mandate at new hires.
While he heard public feedback in favour of a vaccine mandate for all district employees, he said, “I also heard from members of the public who were not interested in it.”
Premier John Horgan has said a decision on vaccine mandates in school districts should come from school boards, not the province.
Parmar said he would have liked health officials to have made the decision on the vaccine mandate rather than the district.
Based on the information the board had, “we felt this was the responsible decision,” he said.
Parmar said he doesn’t favour a return to virtual learning, which was implemented during the first few months of the pandemic and wasn’t a good experience for some students.
“Our board is very supportive of ensuring that students are back in school,” he said. “We think it’s so critical that students are learning in school.”
Both the Greater Victoria and Cowichan Valley school districts decided last week not to require staff vaccinations, after consultation with unions, public-health officials and other groups.
