Warning: This video contains language and images some may find offensive.
About a dozen anti-vaccination protestors gathered outside the main office of the Upper Grand District School Board Tuesday evening to voice their opposition to the school boards vaccination policy regarding varsity school athletics.
“We’re down here to let the school boards know that they should ‘leave the kids alone’ as Pink Floyd said,“ rally organizer Jay Oliver said as he handed out anti-vax fliers.
The protest rally was initiated online via a Facebook post by someone who identified as Catie Leistr, who called on others to join the protest after her son found out he had to be vaccinated to play school sports.
Board policy says that athletes must be fully vaccinated to participate in varsity athletics.
A woman at the rally Tuesday, who did not identify herself but said her son was a student at Emmanuel Christian High School in Fergus, repeated a similar story.
“My son came home from school yesterday saying he was told he can’t play volleyball unless he is vaccinated,“ she said. “We decided to look into that, and it doesn’t make any sense.”
The woman was accompanied by her son.
The protestors blocked the entrance to the parking lot and gathered to plan their next move unaware that the school board meeting was already underway.
“This is public property,” Oliver told the group. “They have no right to deny us being here because we pay for it through our taxes. We can go inside. There is nothing they can do. They can call police and the police can say you’ve got to leave.”
The offices were closed to the public due to pandemic restrictions, but Oliver and others attempted to get in. It was then that they realized the meeting, which was being held via Zoom, had started at 6:30 as scheduled, nearly half an hour before the protestors arrived.
“They started early because they found out we were coming,” Oliver yelled as he banged his protest sign on the window.
The other protestors gathered outside the window and held up signs that read, “This is not okay. The jab will not make a better player,” and “Let them all play.”
School board representatives did not address the crowd but did speak briefly with a lone protestor who identified himself as a concerned father from Fergus.
“That was a waste of time,” he said as he walked away. “Just a bunch of political double talk.”
A school board spokesperson said that due to COVID restrictions, the UGDSB is only allowing visitors through appointments. Delegations in board meetings are done virtually.
UGDSB spokesperson Heather Loney issued the following statement regarding its vaccination policy regarding varsity sports:
Since the beginning of the school year, the UGDSB has been working with Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph Public Health, the Wellington Catholic District School Board and our partners in school athletics to develop a plan for the return of inter-school athletics. Outdoor sports began with training and practices in September and games in early October, with all activities following guidelines from WDGPH. Additional consultation with WDGPH and our partners was required to finalize our plans for indoor sports, given the additional health and safety requirements for participation indoors. Last week, the school boards received recommendations from WDGPH regarding health and safety precautions, and staff worked with our partners at the Wellington-Catholic DSB and District 4 and District 10 officials to operationalize WDGPH’s recommendations.
Following the strong recommendation of Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph Public Health, the following criteria is in place for indoor sports:
- All participants (students/staff/coaches/volunteers) must provide proof of being fully vaccinated or have a medical exemption in order to participate in indoor inter-school sports and/or indoor high-impact, high-intensity school-based intramurals/extracurricular athletics activities; and
- All participants must be fully vaccinated or have a medical exemption to begin tryouts/practices for indoor inter-school athletics.
Please note that this vaccination requirement does not apply to gym classes, only to inter-school indoor athletics and indoor high-impact, high-intensity school-based intramurals/extracurricular athletics activities.
The measures in place for indoor sports are one of the many protective layers that we have in place to help ensure the safety of our students and staff.
We know that students and families were eagerly awaiting the return of indoor sports and we believe that athletics is an important part of high school life. This is an exciting time for the many student-athletes and coaches as they re-engage with these activities.
We also understand that there may be some who are upset about the protocols around participation in indoor sports. If parents do have concerns, they may want to reach out to the board in accordance with our Public Concerns policy and procedures. https://www.ugdsb.ca/board/policy/policy-215-public-concerns/
