Covid 19 Delta outbreak: Whanganui schools in 'dire' situation as vaccine mandate looms

Brunswick principal Jane Corcoran said the timing of the mandate couldn't be worse, and wondered why it couldn't have been addressed after the school year. Photo / Logan Tutty

A leading Whanganui school principal says more than half of schools in the city will have at least one staff member unvaccinated and facing losing their job.

Brunswick School principal Jane Corcoran said the short- and long-term implications of the education vaccine mandate were going to be "dire" for some schools.

Education workers must get their first dose of the vaccine by November 15, with this weekend being the final chance for those who haven't. Workers must have their second dose by January 1.

This includes anyone who works, volunteers or does unpaid work in education, as well as workers in early childhood centres, schools, home-based education and before- and after -school care programmes.

"It has basically been hell for principals," Corcoran said.

"Boards and principals have no discretion to apply the mandate or not, they just have to apply it. It has been very difficult to manage.

"There are going to be some students on Tuesday who have lost their beloved teacher. In small schools, the impact is so much higher. You may lose one of your teachers, but if you are a two-teacher school, that is 50 per cent of your teachers.

"It also impacts the staff that are vaccinated as their workload increases."

Corcoran is disappointed schools may potentially not have teachers in front of students for the last four weeks of the year.

She said the vaccine mandate could have been addressed over the school holidays.

"We are in the busiest term of the year and the workload and stress that has been added on is untenable and it is very, very frustrating it has happened at this time of year.

"It would have been a more practical approach had the mandate started after the finish of the school year so that it didn't have negative implications on those students in school for Term 4."

Some schools the Chronicle approached declined to comment and several others didn't respond to requests to comment around the vaccination status of their staff.

Keith St School principal Linda Ireton said now the vaccine had become mandated for schools and it was law, they had no choice but to carry it out.

"We will support within the means available to us ... [those] who choose not to be vaccinated.

"From my perspective, it is super important that we keep our babies safe. I fully understand them, we just have to do the best we can."

Ireton said the mandate will have a "small" impact on her school.

Tawhero School principal Karleen Marshall said all the teachers at her school have been vaccinated, but she was sure other schools would be facing some issues.

Tawhero School principal Karleen Marshall. Photo / Bevan Conley

"There will be huge ramifications. Has it caused stress for schools? Yes, absolutely it has.

"We have come into this profession to teach and educate kids and we are having to police people with facemasks and more. We are asked to do a lot at the moment."

Te Riu Roa Liam Rutherford, the president of NZEI (New Zealand Educational Institute), said the teachers' union has been getting a lot of calls from members asking about their rights and responsibilities in regard to the mandate, both as employers and employees.

"We don't have information about how many will not comply with the mandate, but the vast majority of our members support vaccination as the best way to keep schools and ECE centres safe for tamariki and staff.

"After 15 November, NZEI Te Riu Roa will work with unvaccinated members who request assistance to ensure that any employment processes resulting from non-compliance with the vaccination mandate are conducted fairly."

In a notice in the Ministry of Education gazette on Thursday, school leaders were advised that if a staff member who has not been vaccinated against Covid-19 turns up from Monday, they will be committing an offence.

If the safety of staff or children is compromised because of an unvaccinated staff member who has arrived at school, school leaders are told they can call police.

Carlton School principal Gary Johnston said they will be losing one staff member due to the mandate.

"The feeling here was generally positive about the whole situation. Most of our staff were vaccinated before it had become mandated, so it was by choice.

Carlton School principal Gary Johnston said he is fortunate his school will not be badly affected. Photo / Logan Tutty

"The impact on teaching and learning will be minimal.

"Most of the contact I've had with a closer cluster of principals [it's] really not a problem. But I know that is not the case across Whanganui."

Johnston said a lot of the work has been figuring out and finding all the volunteers and off-site providers at the school, who all have to be vaccinated too.

Chief executive of YMCA Central Brendan Owens said it did not expect any challenges or impact to programming.

Out of the 230 staff employed across the central region, Owens said two staff are not vaccinated at this stage.

Whanganui Intermediate School principal Katherine Ellery said it has one support staff who is on the fence and will be on discretionary leave whilst they make a decision.

"The rest of our staff are vaccinated so we are in a very fortunate position. There are a lot of schools out there that aren't so fortunate and it has been a nightmare to navigate for principals.

"It has been a really awful process, very isolating. I never want to go through it again."

The timing of the mandate could have been better, said Ellery.

"I'm not sure why they chose November 15th. It has been really hard on schools I must say. They could have made it later and they would still be fully vaccinated for the start of the 2022 year. That is something that would have helped a lot. Those dates were not well thought of."