Teachers unions expected to discuss COVID-19 vaccine policies ahead of back-to-school

Windsor, Ont. -

Local teachers unions are meeting with their provincial counterparts Tuesday ahead of the start to the school year where mandatory COVID-19 vaccines are expected to be discussed.

This while the Ontario Public School Boards’ Association is calling on the Ford government to introduce a mandatory COVID-19 vaccination policy for schools “as quickly as possible” and that “swift and decisive action" should be taken to keep schools safe and open for in-person learning.

“We definitely welcome the conversation and as we see the numbers creep up, I think there’s no better time to start talking about it than as soon as possible,” says local Elementary Teachers Federation of Ontario (ETFO) President, Mario Spagnuolo.

He says elementary schools have the challenge of children under 12 years old, who cannot be vaccinated.

“We’re hoping that scientists and health officials can get approval for vaccination for those children as soon as possible and when it’s safe to do so,” Spagnuolo says.

Ontario schools are set to reopen for in-person instruction next month and unlike last year there are plans to allow students to participate extracurricular activities, field trips and contact sports once again.

The resumption of classes, however, comes at a time when COVID-19 cases are growing exponentially once again.

Spagnuolo says vaccines are not going to be the only measure in fighting a fourth wave of COVID-19, stressing the need for smaller class sizes, enhanced personal protective equipment (PPE) and improved ventilation.

“We’re not scared of following public health guidelines, but public health has not come out with a mandatory vaccination mandate at this time,” he says.

Spagnuolo notes 90 per cent of elementary teachers in Windsor-Essex are vaccinated.

District 9 President Erin Roy doubts the Ontario Secondary School Teachers' Federation (OSSTF) will object to a local or provincial vaccine mandate.

“OSSFT officially, it’s not really our call about mandatory vaccinations or not. I don’t believe that we would oppose it, although we would have some questions about it,” Roy says.

She says a decision needs to be made soon, explaining she believes the tide is turning with more people in favour of mandating vaccinations, since children under 12 aren’t able to receive any shots yet.

“I myself am a little bit more concerned as a parent this September than I was last September,” Roy says.

“We wouldn’t want it to be ‘Oh, if you don’t get vaccinated, you lose your job.’ We’re a union and our job is to protect our members as well, but, I’m not that concerned if there were to be a mandate about mandatory vaccinations because we have very high levels of vaccination.”