The Kamloops-Thompson School District has brought in a COVID-19 vaccine policy for all staff.

At their Feb. 7 meeting, the board directed Superintendent Rhonda Nixon to bring in the policy by May 9 at the latest. It will be in effect until June 30, subject to review and extension.

“Our Board will provide those employees with accommodations who require them for medical reasons or who choose not to be vaccinated with a rapid testing option,” Board Chair Heather Grieve said, in a statement.

Employees who are not fully vaccinated and have not agreed to rapid testing by May 27, will be put on ‘Extraordinary Leave’ though the district says no employee will be terminated for choosing not to provide proof of vaccination showing they are fully vaccinated.

SD73 says its policy aligns with the recommendations for public employers made by Provincial Health Officer, Dr. Bonnie Henry, and by Interior Health Medical Health Officer, Dr. Silvina Mema, in a letter to that effect on Jan. 3.

“We will work through necessary steps to operationalize this procedure,” Grieve said. “As recommended by Dr. Mema in her letter, our Board will take a ‘stepped approach’ in mitigating staff shortages and ensuring continuity of learning for students.”

Over the 16 school days in January, the district says student absentee rates were higher than the seasonal average of 14 per cent on all but two days – Jan. 10 and 11.

“In the first week back after the phased start in January, the District had relatively stable student absenteeism. In the second week, there were thirteen schools exceeding Interior Health student absenteeism thresholds. This aligns with increasing student absenteeism at the District level, which saw a peak of 23 per cent student absenteeism on Jan. 21,” Nixon said, in her report to the board.

On Jan. 21, there were also 239 teachers who were off work, according to SD73.

“In the third week, there were three schools exceeding Interior Health student absenteeism thresholds. Although the student absenteeism for the District is at 7 per cent and 5 per cent above historic numbers on Jan. 28 and Jan. 31 respectively, these numbers are inflated by higher absences at Secondary schools coinciding with the end of first semester,” Nixon added, noting 17 schools have sent home letters to inform their parents about the high absenteeism.

There have been three single-day functional school closures across SD73 – at Chase Secondary, Haldane Elementary in Chase, and at Blue River Elementary.

“Since our last report we have seen a slow reduction in the number of teachers absent and corresponding unfilled positions each day,” Nixon said. “Support staff absences remain high but there are signs indicating that things are improving.”

“The district is optimistic that the worst is behind us, and that there will not be a need for more functional closures to address staffing shortages as the Omicron variant has made its way through the population.”

Read the SD73 COVID vaccine policy here.