TDSB places 100 permanent staff on unpaid leave for refusing to disclose COVID-19 vaccination status
Posted November 4, 2021 7:54 am.
Last Updated November 4, 2021 6:46 pm.
The Toronto District School Board (TDSB) has placed 100 employees on unpaid leave for refusing to reveal their COVID-19 vaccination status.
The country’s largest school board had said roughly 40,000 staff members would need to be fully vaccinated by November 1st, unless exempt, or they would be forced to take an unpaid leave of absence or be fired. The TDSB’s rules apply to employees, trustees, bus drivers, and others who directly contact staff and students in the workplace.
The TDSB announced that it would pause its policy over the next three weeks as it looks over approximately 900 requests for various exemptions. Those who still refuse to be vaccinated by November 21st will be placed on unpaid leave.
Spokesperson Ryan Bird confirms with CityNews that 100 staff have been placed on unpaid leave — 13 of which are elementary teachers, three are high school teachers.
“As of 5 p.m. on November 2nd, 100 permanent staff and 693 occasional staff had not completed their mandatory attestation and have now been placed on non-disciplinary administrative leave of absence without pay,” Bird said in an email to CityNews. “… The vast majority of employees on administrative leave at this time have not worked in the TDSB during the 2021-22 school year.”
The TDSB says nearly 700 occasional staff did not disclose their vaccination status and are not allowed to work at the board but adds most of them have not served at the TDSB so far this school year.
“These numbers are a snapshot in time. With staff continuing to attest, these numbers will change over the upcoming days.”
TDSB workers who receive one dose by November 19th will have a month to get their second shot, and those whose exemption requests are denied will have 45 days to get vaccinated.
According to the latest data, Bird says 86 per cent of TDSB staff and employees (just under 36,000) are fully vaccinated against COVID-19, and 1.6 per cent (680 members) are partially vaccinated. As of Thursday, five medical exemptions have been approved by the TDSB, and 270 employees are actively working remotely.
Just over 900 employees are seeking either creed or medical exemptions, 2.2 per cent of the board. Bird says 1,803 permanent and occasional staff are “non-compliant” with the TDSB’s vaccination policy and are unvaccinated.
The Toronto District School Board provided data as of November 4th, 2021.
The city’s public school board is one of only a few in the country that requires staff to be fully vaccinated.
The province hasn’t mandated COVID-19 vaccines for education workers but did announce last week that unvaccinated school staff, including those who have received only one dose, will begin undergoing three rapid antigen COVID-19 tests per week starting November 10th.
Last week, Education Minister Stephen Lecce said up to 50,000 education workers in Ontario could be fired if COVID-19 vaccines were mandated for that sector.
Lecce said such a policy would mean pink slips for tens of thousands of educators when Ontario already faces staffing challenges.
“I think we have to be coupled by realism and ensure that any staff member who enters our school has a double test, a negative antigen test, to ensure they are safe, to ensure our schools could be staffed, and these kids can continue to go to school every day,” he said.
With files from The Canadian Press
