Demonstrators Protest Outside EIPS Division Office

Demonstrators Protest Outside EIPS Division Office

Michelle Pinon - News Advertiser

Demonstrators gathered outside of Elk Island Public Schools, (EIPS) division office in Sherwood Park the morning of August 26.

The majority of the demonstrators were protesting against the school board’s recent decision mandating the use of face masks for Kindergarten to Grade 6 students.

During the board meeting presenters Courtney Liddle and Heidi Andruchow spoke against masking requirements, and Maggie Sinfield and D’Arcy Vermette spoke in favour of masking requirements.

Presenters were given 10 minutes to state their case. Following each presentation trustees were given the opportunity to ask questions, but none were asked.

There were no motions put forward by the Board regarding the mask requirements, and so there was no discussion by trustees in that regard.

If parents want their children to be exempt from wearing masks in school, they must present a physician’s note to that effect.

A form letter addressed to parents and guardians, and signed by EIPS Superintendent Mark Ligouri, states in part, “Section 33(1) (d) of the Education Act requires the Board to “ensure that each child enrolled in a school operated by the Board and each staff member employed by the Board is provided with a welcoming, caring, respectful and safe learning environment.”

EIPS Parents and Community Against Mask Mandates for Students protesting outside school division office.

(Deanna Tonery/Submitted Photo)

Given the current pandemic and the increasing presence of the very contagious Delta variant of the Covid virus, the Board has properly made the determination under the noted provisions of the Education Act to enforce mask-wearing in your child’s school.

If your child or children have a medical condition that prohibits them from wearing a mask, then a note from the child’s doctor to that effect would exempt them from the masking requirement. However, that would also mean the potential other measures would be put in place to protect them, other students, and staff.”

On August 13 Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Deena Hinshaw stated, “that masking will not be required provincially in school settings, but she said school officials have the authority to put in local measures, such as physical distancing, cohorting, and mandatory masking, if those decisions are right for them and their communities.