Glenys Edwards, Chair Kim Armstrong Cheryl Dumont Stanley Haroun Sheri Wright

Item #: 9.3

Date: Wednesday, February 10, 2021

To: Board of Trustees

From: Board of Trustees

Re: Board Letters to the Premier and Minister of Education regarding COVID-19 Vaccination of School Staff

RECOMMENDATION

“THAT the Board of Trustees receive as information its letter to the Premier of regarding the COVID-19 Vaccination of School Staff and the joint letter from the four School Boards (Conseil scolaire Centre-Nord, Greater St. Albert Catholic Schools, St. Albert Public Schools and Sturgeon Public Schools) to the Minister of Education on the same subject.”

Comments:

At the January 13, 2021 Public Board meeting the Board unanimously passed a motion regarding sending a letter to the regarding the COVID-19 vaccination of school staff. Attached is the Board’s letter that was sent. Also attached is the joint letter from the four School Boards (Conseil scolaire Centre- Nord, Greater St. Albert Catholic Schools, St. Albert Public Schools and Sturgeon Public Schools) to the Minister of Education on the same subject.

St. Albert BOARD OF TRUSTEES @ PUBHC SCHOOTS Glenys Edwords, Choir Kim Armstrong CherylDumonl Stonley Horoun SheriWrighl

January 21,2021

Honourable Via email: [email protected],ca Premier of Alberta, President of Executive Council Office of the Premier, Executive Branch 307 Legislature Building, 10800 - 97 Avenue , AB TsK 286

Dear Honourable Mr. Kenney:

The St. Albert Public Schools Board of Trustees requests the Government of Alberta include school division staff in their phased rollout of vaccinations and identify them as priority workers allowing them to receive the COVID-19 vaccine as soon as possible.

St. Albert Public Schools has implemented multiple layers of pandemic protection in our schools and site buildings for staff and students. These include, but are not limited to, requiring students and staff to attend school in-person if they are healthy, supplying personal protective equipment for staff, deploying additional custodial staff to complete more frequent cleaning and wiping down of frequently contacted surfaces, completing additional maintenance of regular air exchanges (where applicable) and ensuring a heightened awareness of student and staff cohort segregation and scheduling.

School division staff remain in a higher COVID-19 risk situation as they interact daily with large groups of students and individuals in confined spaces for extended periods of time. Studies clearly state that students have been routinely identified as asymptomatic carriers, this makes it úery difficult for students and families to self-assess whether they are healthy or not prior to entering the school buildings. Our staff work with the largest demographic that is not eligible to be valcinated due to their age, yet school staff has not yet been identified in the provincial vaccination plan. This is an oversight by the government that we request be reviewed and rectified as quickly as possible.

The St. Albert Public Schools Board of Trustees agrees with the government's priority of maintaining safe in-person learning. The negative impacts of school building closures are far reaching, affecting students' learning, the social and psychologicalwell-being of students, fãmilies, staff and the economy. Given this information the Board is advocating for school staff to be identified as priority workers and vaccinated as soon as possible.

l2 ó0 Sir Winston ChurchillAvenue, St. Alberl, Alberto T8N 0G4 P hone: 7 80.460.97 1 2' t ox 7 80.460.7 686' www.spschools'org -2-

We look fonrard to hearing from you regarding this urgent request.

Sincerely,

i i Mrs. Glenys Edwards I l CHAIR i I for: BOARD OF TRUSTEES I i r cc: Honourable Adriana LaGrange, Minister of Education 'l I Honourable , Minister of Health I

Honourable , MLA, Morinville, St. Albert l Ms. , MLA trustees i ).

'1.

ì

I

i

I

1 39/ '1scolaire Greater St. Albert -Noni Catholic Schools St Albert turublugce on

February 3"’,2021

Honourable Adriana LaGrange Minister of Education 228 Legislature Building Edmonton, ABTSK 2B6

Dear Minister LaGrange:

As we watch the rollout of the COVID-19vaccinations across our province, it gives all of us great comfort and relief to see our healthcare workers, seniors and other priority groups receive this much-awaited vaccine. Today, we write to you on behalf of our respective school divisions to jointly request that all school staff in Alberta also be placed on this priority list for the COVID-19 vaccine.

While other workplaces are able to offer their staff the added protection of working from home, our school—basedstaff do not have this option. They must be at school, and are therefore potentially exposed to the virus every day. Although we have taken strict measures to protect our staff and students from the virus, each of our school divisions has seen the disruption caused when groups of students and staff are required to isolate. One of your government's key priorities is to ensure schools remain open and operational as much as possible during this pandemic, and the continual loop of isolating staff and students has been extremely disruptive to teaching, learning and effectively operating our schools. It has also been very difficult for our students’ families, as they must adapt quickly to any changes in their child's ability to attend school. We believe that by vaccinating school staff as soon as possible, we can help reduce the incidences of isolation, school closures, and the overall number of COVID-19 cases in our communities, while at the same time lessening the stress on our students’ families.

Aside from the educational benefits of having students and staff in school more consistently, prioritizing school staff for the vaccine would also help protect the health of the children in our care, as they are too young to receive the vaccination themselves. Please note that our request includes all school—basedstaff, including our custodial and caretaking teams who have been working diligently to keep our schools clean and sanitized; our educational assistants and therapists who work extremely closely with some of our most vulnerable students; our bus drivers who transport hundreds of students every day; and our other support staff who are all in daily contact with our students.

For these reasons, we believe school staff should be considered a high priority in the vaccination process. Our staff have been there for our students throughout this pandemic, and we need to ensure that steps are taken to protect their health and safety. We thank you for your consideration of our request and loo k forward to hearing from you.

Tanya Saumure, Board Chair Noreen Radford, Board Chair Conseil scolaire Centre—Nord Greater St. Albert Catholic Schools

,é%m&

Glenys Edwards, Board Chair Terry Jewell, Board Chair St. Albert Public Schools Sturgeon Public Schools

Cc: Honourable Dale Nally, MLAMorinville-St. Albert Marie Renaud, MLASt. Albert Greater St. Albert Catholic Schools

tu‘:‘J1?§on

Le 3 février 2021

Honourable Adriana LaGrange Minister of Education 228 Legislature Building Edmonton, ABT5K 2B6

Ministre LaGrange,

Le début de la vaccination contre la COVID-19dans notre province et le fait de voir nos travailleurs de la santé, nos ainés et d'autres groupes prioritaires recevoir ce vaccin tant attendu, nous réconfortent et nous soulagent. Aujourd'hui, nous vous écrivons conjointement, au nom de nos conseils scolaires, afin de demander que tous les employés qui travaillent dans les écoles soient également considérés comme des individus prioritaires pour le vaccin contre la COVID-19.

D'autres employeurs peuvent permettre a leur personnel le travail adomicile ce qui offre une protection supplémentaire, mais les employés qui travaillent dans nos écoles n'ont pas cette option. Ilsdoivent étre a |'éco|e et sont donc potentiellement exposés au virus chaque jour. Nous avons mis des mesures strictes en place pour protéger nos employés et nos éléves contre le virus, par contre nous avons aussi vu |’impact profond dans nos écoles lorsque des groupes d'éléves et des membres du personnel doivent s'isoler. L’une des principales priorités de votre gouvernement est de veiller 3 ce que les écoles restent ouvertes pendant la pandémie de la COVID-19. Le roulement continue des isolements des membres du personnel et les éléves a été extrémement perturbateur pour |’enseignement, |’apprentissage et le fonctionnement efficace de nos écoles. Cela a également été trés dif?cile pour nos familles, car elles doivent s’adapter rapidement lorsque leur enfant ne peut plus aller a l’éco|e et doit s'isoler. Nous croyons qu'en vaccinant les employés qui travaillent dans nos écoles des que possible, nous pouvons réduire les incidences d'iso|ement, les fermetures d'éco|es et le nombre total de cas de COVID-19dans nos communautés, tout en réduisant le stress sur nos familles.

Outre les avantages éducatifs d'avoir des éléves et le personnel 2:|'éco|e de maniére plus consistante, donner la priorité au personnel scolaire pour le vaccin aiderait également a protéger la santé des enfants dont nous avons la charge, car ils sont trop jeunes pour se faire vacciner eux—mémes. Veuillez noter que notre demande inclut tous les membres du personnel des écoles, y compris nos équipes de conciergeries, qui ont travaillé avec diligence pour garder nos écoles propres et désinfectées, nos aides- éleves et nos thérapeutes qui travaillent en étroite collaboration avec plusieurs de nos éleves les plus vulnérables, nos chauffeurs de bus qui transportent des centaines d'éleves chaque jour et les autres membres du personnel de soutien qui sont en contact quotidien avec nos éleves.

C’est pour ces raisons que nous considérons que les employés qui travaillent dans nos écoles doivent étre une priorité élevée dans le processus de vaccination contre la COVID-19. Nos employés ont appuyé nos éléves tout au long de cette pandémie et nous devons nous assurer que des mesures sont prises afin de protéger leur santé et leur sécurité. Nous vous remercions d'avoir pris en considération notre demande et attendons avec impatience votre réponse.

\ §\\\

Tanya Saumure, Board Chair Noreen Radford, Board Chair Conseil scolaire Centre—Nord Greater St. Albert Catholic Schools

\ \ \ \\ Glenys Edwards, Board Chair Terry Jewell, Board Chair St. Albert Public Schools Sturgeon Public Schools

Cc: Honourable Dale Nally, MLAMorinville-St. Albert Marie Renaud, MLASt. Albert