Public school trustees mandate COVID-19 vaccines

Aim to close ‘significant loopholes’ in provincial ministry’s directive

Hamilton’s public school board will require all staff, trustees, service providers and volunteers to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 unless they have a medical or legal exemption.

Hamilton Wentworth District School Board trustees voted 9-1 on Monday to support a motion by Alex Johnstone to remove what she called “significant loopholes” in a vaccination and testing directive from the Ministry of Education.

The ministry directive allows employees who refuse to disclose their immunization status or get vaccinated to submit to regular rapid testing instead, although they’re also required to watch an educational video on the benefits of vaccination.

Johnstone said the board needs a stricter approach because of concerns that rapid testing may not catch asymptomatic cases, potentially allowing COVID-19 to get into schools.

The trustee for wards 11 and 12 said that risks the health and safety of students too young to be vaccinated and anyone with medical conditions making them especially vulnerable to COVID-19.

“We cannot close schools again. It doesn’t work for the vast majority of our students,” Johnstone said, noting public boards in Toronto and Ottawa have already adopted policies mandating vaccines.

“It closes some of the loopholes with regards to individuals who have opted to make, I guess, a political statement in terms of not providing proof of a vaccination or proof of an accommodation.”

Only Becky Buck, trustee for wards 8 and 14, opposed the stricter policy, calling it “an overstepping” of human rights.

She was also the lone holdout against an August motion by Johnstone to require trustees to disclose their immunization status by a Sept. 7 deadline set for staff.

Human resources superintendent Jamie Nunn said 82.2 per cent of the board’s 7,251 permanent and occasional employees were fully vaccinated as of Sept. 10.

Of the rest, 657 weren’t vaccinated and 637 didn’t disclose their status, he said.

Buck, along with Ward 3 trustee Maria Miller, also opposed a separate section of Johnstone’s motion, passed by an 8-2 vote, to support adding COVID-19 vaccines to the province’s list of compulsory vaccinations for students.

Buck said vaccines on the current compulsory list are for diseases that, unlike COVID-19, pose a far greater risk of major health problems or death for a significant portion of the population.

“The scale doesn’t fit,” Buck said. “The current rate of death to children who catch COVID-19 in any experience is less than one per cent — in fact, it is less than a half of a half of a percentage point,” she said.

“Where we know that COVID-19 is going to continue to evolve and we are not yet sure about the long-term efficacy of the current vaccination, it is too soon to say that this needs to be added to our immunization efforts.”

But chair Dawn Danko said the board needs to take all steps necessary to ensure a safe and successful school year for students.

She said one case of COVID-19 at school can affect 85 students and require them to isolate at home for 10 school days.

“That is a significant impact and a significant disruption for those students,” Danko said. “The risk is not just to COVID the disease itself, but the risk is related to school closures.”

HWDSB education director Manny Figueiredo said it will take about two months to implement the policy, which must adhere to 0applicable laws on health and safety, and the protection of private health information, and the Ontario Human Rights Code.

The latter allows exemptions for medical, religious or creed reasons, he said.

“It would eliminate the personal choice (to get vaccinated),” Figueiredo said.