More than 300 TDSB staff members placed on leave as vaccine policy comes into effect

TORONTO -

The Toronto District School Board says more than 300 staff members who did not comply with the board’s vaccination mandate have been put on administrative leave starting today.

In a memo to parents, the TDSB confirmed that 330 staff members have been placed on “non-disciplinary administrative leave without pay” for failing to disclose their vaccination status.

“As we implement the procedure, it is important that there is minimal impact on students’ learning, well-being and safety,” the memo read.

“As part of this plan, we are relying on occasional/casual staff to fill in for these staff members but, like other school boards across Ontario, we are seeing lower levels of occasional/casual staff taking available jobs.”

The board said it has granted “temporary exemptions” to 290 staff members, including many who work as special needs assistants, designated early childhood educators, and lunchroom supervisors.

“These exemptions will only last until we are able to adequately fill these positions on a case-by-case basis,” the school board said.

Unvaccinated staff will be required to undertake rapid antigen testing three times a week.

“We know this is an incredibly challenging time for the staff impacted by this procedure, but we are doing all we can to ensure the health and safety of our students and staff,” the TDSB said.

Growth in school-related COVID-19 cases continue to outpace the increase in infections in the broader community, with 100 new cases reported in Ontario’s publicly funded schools on Friday.

As of Friday, there were 1,243 known, active COVID-19 cases associated with schools in Ontario, a 26 per cent increase week-over-week.

Last week, Health Canada approved Pfizer’s pediatric COVID-19 vaccine for children ages 5 to 11, a development that is expected to soon help curb COVID-19 transmission in schools.

Vaccination of younger children is expected to begin this week and Toronto Public Health previously confirmed that it will hold 390 school-based clinics in the initial vaccine rollout prior to the winter break.

Additionally, the province has said it will send every public school student home with multiple rapid antigen tests over the winter break to begin testing every three or four days starting on Dec. 23.

The province has said this will help prevent infected students from returning to the classroom in January, though it should be noted that the program is voluntary and children who do not take the rapid tests will be allowed to return after the break.