By Adam Ophus

letter sent to education minister

Wild Rose School Division asking that school staff be put in High Priority vaccine program

Jan 25, 2021 | 3:10 PM

The Board of Trustees for Wild Rose School Division’s (WRSD) voted at their January 19 meeting to send a letter to the Minister of Education asking that school staff be included in the high priority group for the COVID-19 vaccine distribution.

The letter to Adriana LaGrange states that the division had 42 cases of COVID-19 in their schools since the start of the current school year.

The letter says schools have indicated that they follow all guidelines and safety protocols, however, teachers and support staff have expressed a great deal of anxiety over the increased exposure due to being considered frontline, essential workers.

WRSD Superintendent Brad Volkman said he wouldn’t be surprised if other schools began advocating for this as well.

“School divisions in general are trying to do everything we can to support the safety and well-being of our teachers and support staff during this pandemic,” he said.

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Volkman clarified that the push would be to get everyone working in schools and coming into contact with students to be vaccinated as soon as possible.

While strictly following all public health measures, Volkman says teachers have been using more sick days as they are no longer allowed to “tough it out” when experiencing symptoms.

Nonetheless, the total number of away from schools days has gone down, Volkman explains, due to there being less professional development days, meetings, coaching days, etc.

Volkman noted that the cost to bring in substitute teachers has not increased from previous years due to this fact.

The struggle to find subs and casual staff has continued to be a challenge throughout the schools.

School divisions across the province continue to offer At-Home Learning for students in an effort to reduce class sizes and give parents and students the option to ease the worry of in-person schooling.

Wild Rose School Division has approximately 320 students taking part in their At-Home Learning program, while 180 students are doing homeschooling with other educational providers, leaving the division with even fewer students than in previous years.

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