TDSB extends deadline for staff to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19

Unvaccinated employees at the Toronto District School Board (TDSB) can breathe a little easier – as they will now get an additional three weeks to receive two doses of the Covid-19 shot before facing any disciplinary action.

Initially, school board officials said all employees had to be fully vaccinated by Nov. 1.

However, TDSB Executive Officer Ryan Bird, said that the timeline didn’t work. That’s because the board needed more time to put in place staff to address any shortfalls and review requests for exemptions – medical, or otherwise.

“We will continue to work with staff to support them in this process and do our best to avoid any unnecessary service impacts for students, staff and community members,” Bird said in a written statement.

Under the new timeline – staff who have disclosed their vaccination status or have had at least one dose need to be fully vaccinated by Nov. 21. If they opt-out of vaccination altogether, they will be placed on a leave of absence without pay. It’s important to note TDSB workers who receive one dose by Nov. 19 will have a month to get their second shot and those whose exemption requests are denied will have 45 days to get vaccinated.

Meantime, staff who don’t disclose their vaccination status by Nov. 1 will be placed on administration leave – effective Nov. 2, and any TDSB employee whose request for exemption is denied will have 45 days to be fully vaccinated.

TDSB will continue to test staff for COVID-19 twice a week as part of their daily health screening.

The Toronto board’s policy takes a harder line on immunizations than the minimum standards set by the province, which require unvaccinated school staff to get tested for the virus twice a week.

Failing to comply with the policy, which applies to 39,845 workers, could lead to termination but the board hasn’t yet said when that will happen.

The board has reported that as of Oct. 22, 85 per cent of all staff – or 33,917 people – had attested being fully vaccinated.

Five people in total had approved medical exemptions as of that date and 1,740 people hadn’t filled out the board’s disclosure form.

With files from The Canadian Press