Tara de Weerd, Director of Communications for RVS, responded to questions by CochraneNow that had arisen as a result of an online meeting on Thursday night hosted by parents and teachers. 

During the online meeting, parents and teachers voiced concerns over vaccine declarations and mandates.

"RVS has been engaging with school administration and staff regularly since the temporary Administrative Procedure was first announced to support them in their awareness and understanding of the new requirements. To provide time to prepare, staff will have until Dec. 1st, 2021, to indicate their chosen path and depending on their choice, will work with a member of our human resources team on the next steps," she wrote. "We recognize there will be some unique circumstances and will work with those individuals to consider options."

de Weerd also underlined that when the government and medical authorities no longer support the identification of COVID-19 as a workplace hazard, RVS will amend or eliminate the Administrative Procedure completely.

According to RVS's Administrative Procedure with regards to COVID-19 vaccines, the policy states that "employees who are unable to show proof of immunization and be fully immunized by January 3, 2022, or are unwilling to routinely show proof of negative COVID-19 testing, shall be considered non-compliant with this administrative procedure."

Consequences can result in leave of absence without pay and benefits, reassignment or modification of duties in very limited circumstances; and conclusion of employment.

"We appreciate our staff, families and partners’ understanding and cooperation as we implement the requirements on Jan. 3, 2022," de Weerd wrote. "RVS greatly values our exceptional staff and with this, at heart, we believe its important to do our part to protect them and our students with this step to reduce the spread of COVID-19 infection in all RVS facilities."

Attendees of Thursday night's online meeting did say they are planning to attend the November 25th RVS Board Meeting and though they will not be allowed to speak, they still plan to make their presence known, though it was unclear whether they were in favour of protesting.