THUNDER BAY – Local groups are echoing calls from across Ontario to accelerate the vaccination of education workers, saying it could be crucial not only to protect the health of staff but also to keep schools open.
The provincial government announced last week it would add education workers to its current phase two vaccine roll-out, beginning with those who provide direct support to special education students and all staff in the provincially-designated “hot spots” of Toronto and Peel.
Some health units, including some not identified as hot spots, have already begun offering vaccinations to all education workers, but the rollout in the Thunder Bay District Health Unit remains uncertain.
That’s disconcerting for Ellen Chambers, chair of the Lakehead Public Schools board of trustees, which released a letter calling for the province to prioritize its employees on Friday.
The issue is especially pressing for those who work with special needs students, she said, who are sometimes unable to wear masks. Those staff also often can’t effectively do their jobs while physically distancing, she said.
The board was pleased to see education workers made eligible in phase two, Chambers said, but they remained concerned about the speed with which staff, particularly in the North, would actually receive the shots.
“We’re still looking at our staff going back and not being vaccinated, so we certainly felt even with those changes, we wanted the letter to go out,” she said.
“[In the North], it seems we have to make sure they never forget us, so that’s also part of what’s gone into the thinking of this.”
The province on Monday ordered schools to move to virtual learning following the April break as cases surge in many areas in southern Ontario.
Chambers said Monday that the process had begun to identify local staff who work with students with special needs in order to vaccinate them.
Rich Seely, president of the Ontario Secondary School Teachers Federation (OSSTF) District 6A-Thunder Bay, said he’d heard special needs support staff were receiving instructions on how to book vaccination as soon as this week, but had not received official confirmation.
Neither had received word yet on a vaccination timeline for other education workers.
The health unit did not respond to a request for comment on this story.
The public board saw numerous school closures and classrooms sent home due to rising cases before TBDHU medical officer of health Dr. Janet DeMille recommended schools in the Thunder Bay area go virtual – a move that ended up being extended until the end of the April break.
The board had urged the move several days previous, with Chambers saying at the time nearly 600 students – about 7.7 per cent of the student body – were in isolation due to COVID-19.
“It wasn’t necessarily that there was a tremendous amount of spread within our schools, but there were becoming active COVID cases here and there," Chambers said. "The classrooms were closed down soon enough, it seems, so that we weren’t having epidemics in our schools – but it was untenable, we just couldn’t [keep up].”
For Seely, it makes sense to vaccinate education workers over the April break if possible, given that experience. His local has previously called for classes to remain virtual until staff are vaccinated.
“We have been advocating and lobbying the health units to get teachers into the queue, and why not [over the April break]?” he asked. “We are essential workers, and if my members get that first shot into their arms [this] week, they’re that much safer when they go back into schools.”
Carlo Cappello, president of the Ontario English Catholic Teachers' Association (OECTA) local secondary unit, agreed, expressing concern with previous reports education staff might not receive vaccines until June or later.
“We believe that in order to keep schools open and keep schools safe, it would be to everyone’s benefit if we vaccinate all school-based staff as soon as possible.”
The public school board’s letter was released over Facebook Friday and addressed to Premier Doug Ford, Health Minister Christine Elliott, Education Minister Stephen Lecce, chief medical officer of health Dr. David Williams, and local medical officer of health Dr. Janet DeMille.
It suggested vaccinations would be key to a safe return to class.
“Your recent announcement was important regarding moving up frontline education workers in the vaccine roll-out but we want to ensure that all areas of the province will be included,” it reads. “We cannot return to normal classes safely without your support in this endeavour.”
Trustee Deborah Massaro is notably the only one on the board not to have their name attached to the letter. Reached Monday, she declined to comment on that decision. She later suggested via email the letter was "unauthorized," but declined to comment further.
The letter was not passed with a board motion, but was approved by the board's communications committee, which includes all trustees.
Six trustees who spoke with Tbnewswatch disputed Massaro's account, saying they were fully aware their names would be attached to the letter and had no objections.
Note: This article has been updated to reflect comments received from Lakehead District School Board trustees since the time of publication.
