Unvaccinated students a concern as Saskatoon teachers get first look at 2021-22 school plan
According to the head of the Saskatoon Teachers' Association (STA), many educators have one major concern with the provincial government's plan for the upcoming school year.
The Government of Saskatchewan's "Safe Schools Plan" for the 2021-22 school year was made public earlier this week.
The document, which consists of three pages, emphasizes the importance of people getting vaccinated as soon as they’re eligible.
In keeping with the general reopening of the province, the plan will not require masking, physical distancing or other COVID-19 measures during the upcoming school year.
The plan does provide some latitude for "locally-tailored approaches" with the guidance of a medical health officer if required.
STA president John McGettigan said vaccine uptake is high for his association's members.
However, teachers are concerned about the potential risks faced by students not yet eligible for vaccination.
"I would say 95, maybe higher, per cent of my teachers are vaccinated, so now I think the concern is about those that aren't … kids that are that are in our classrooms that aren't protected like we are," McGettigan said.
“I have crossed my fingers that really soon, maybe as soon as September, is that five to 12-year-olds are eligible and then we can do something similar as we did in our high schools in the spring, or we can have vaccination clinics in our elementary schools for those kids that are five to 12.”
McGettigan says a safe return to schools for students and teachers will largely come down to the school divisions.
“The one thing that I think I'm most proud of is that our teachers work for two school divisions that trust experts,” he said.
“Over the last academic year, the reliance we placed on our local medical health officers that are experts in public health, was really reassuring and any decisions that our school divisions made were based on that advice," McGettigan said.
“That will obviously continue in the future, and that high level of trust between health and education and the links that were built are absolutely critical moving forward.”
Although there are concerns, McGettigan says there is also excitement about in-person learning in the fall.
“Those things we missed out on, like freshee football games, Christmas concerts, kindergarten teas, all those sorts of things are things that we really missed,” he said.
“Maybe the biggest thing is being able to get together as staff, being able to look each other in the eyes over a cup of coffee about a student that we know we can help, or meeting face to face with a parent who's struggling with their kid.”
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
'They needed people inside Air Canada:' Police announce arrests in Pearson gold heist
Police say one former and one current employee of Air Canada are among the nine suspects that are facing charges in connection with the gold heist at Pearson International Airport last year.
House admonishes ArriveCan contractor in rare parliamentary show of power
MPs enacted an extraordinary, rarely used parliamentary power on Wednesday, summonsing an ArriveCan contractor to appear before the House of Commons where he was admonished publicly and forced to provide answers to the questions MPs said he'd previously evaded.
Leafs star Auston Matthews finishes season with 69 goals
Auston Matthews won't be joining the NHL's 70-goal club this season.
Trump lawyers say Stormy Daniels refused subpoena outside a Brooklyn bar, papers left 'at her feet'
Donald Trump's legal team says it tried serving Stormy Daniels a subpoena as she arrived for an event at a bar in Brooklyn last month, but the porn actor, who is expected to be a witness at the former president's criminal trial, refused to take it and walked away.
Why drivers in Eastern Canada could see big gas price spikes, and other Canadians won't
Drivers in Eastern Canada face a big increase in gas prices because of various factors, especially the higher cost of the summer blend, industry analysts say.
Doug Ford calls on Ontario Speaker to reverse Queen's Park keffiyeh ban
Ontario Premier Doug Ford is calling on Speaker Ted Arnott to reverse a ban on keffiyehs at Queen's Park, describing the move as “needlessly” divisive.
'A living nightmare': Winnipeg woman sentenced following campaign of harassment against man after online date
A Winnipeg woman was sentenced to house arrest after a single date with a man she met online culminated in her harassing him for years, and spurred false allegations which resulted in the innocent man being arrested three times.
Woman who pressured boyfriend to kill his ex in 2000s granted absences from prison
A woman who pressured her boyfriend into killing his teenage ex more than a decade ago will be allowed to leave prison for weeks at a time.
Customers disappointed after email listing $60K Tim Hortons prize sent in error
Several Tim Horton’s customers are feeling great disappointment after being told by the company that an email stating they won a boat worth nearly $60,000 was sent in error.