15 | O akville B eaver | T hursday,O ctober 7,2021 insidehalton.com Join us at our October open house to learn more and enjoy lunch on us. Life at Amica Bronte Harbour is once again its wonderful, normal self. Get a haircut. Have a pub night. Share a meal with friends or catch up with loved ones in real life, face-to-face. Experience exceptional care and support in a premium residence with safe social connections that make life easier, and better, for everyone. Right now. 160 B RON T E R D A M IC A .C A / B RON T E H A R B OU R C A L L DI A N N E AT 9 0 5 - 8 4 2 - 8 1 6 7 TODAY THE L I FESTYLEYOU DESERVE. THE SUPPORT YOU NEED. With the exception of room bookings, the Oakville Public Library (OPL) is not mandating proof of vaccination. Provincial requirements have ex- empted libraries from requiring proof of vaccination. The news was announced when the province's new rules around vaccine mandates in certain settings came into effect, one day after the Town of Oakville provided their rules on who can access municipal facilities. Alternative entrances can be used to access OPL branches located inside town facilities. For OPL programs and OPL services located in Town of Oakville fa- cilities, proof of vaccination is required for anyone 12 years and older. Medical exemptions still apply. Valid government-issued identifica- tion is required alongside proof of vacci- nation status if the public wants to book a library room. Date of vaccination must be at least 14 days prior to the date of res- ervation. LIBRARY NOT REQUIRING PROOF OF VACCINATION MANSOOR TANWEER mtanweer@metroland.com Proof of vaccination will not be required at local library branches, except for those booking rooms. Graham Paine / Metroland NEWS Unvaccinated employees of the Halton District School Board who do not follow the terms of the provincially mandated vaccination compliance procedure will face a "progressive response." "They would be reminded of require- ments and failing to do so would trigger further action on the part of human re- sources in terms of ensuring compliance," said Superintendent of Human Resources, Sari Taha. "Would it result in immediate removal from the workplace? I would say no ... at least not initially." There could be "all sorts of reasonable grounds" for an employee not filing one test result, however, if there is a pattern of negligence to comply with reporting guidelines, "that will result in a progres- sive response, be it a reminder, and also an explicit disclaimer that this may result in removing you from the workplace." Currently, 93.6 per cent of board em- ployees have been vaccinated, or 9,010 em- ployees out of a total of 9,983. 22 employees are medically exempt. There are 554 employees who have re- sponded as unvaccinated, and the remain- der are of unknown vaccination status; the latter group will be treated as unvaccinat- ed individuals, meaning they will be re- quired to submit the results of two weekly COVID-19 rapid tests and undergo vaccine educational training. Approximately 1,500 kits, which include 25 tests each, have been delivered to em- ployee residences, as far away as Grimsby, Guelph and Brampton, with the remain- der of the 2,000 kits to be delivered by the end of this week. Along with its employees, the board is collecting and managing the data of a sec- ond cohort which includes school volun- teers and third-party providers. "This has been a significant undertak- ing by the school board ... A lot of resources have been dedicated and diverted to man- aging this process." The average cost per rapid testing kit, plus shipping and handling, is well over $70; not just a significant cost but an ongo- ing one, said Taha. The kits are provided to the board by the province, however, the cost of delivery, and the cost of managing the separate plat- form being used to collect and report data from the second cohort could be upwards of $10,000 to $15,000 annually, he said. Approximately $250,000 has been put aside so far from board reserves to cover many of these COVID-19-related costs, said Superintendent of Business Services, Rox- ana Negoi. "We have raised this with the Ministry (of Education). It's on their radar as well," said Negoi. UNVACCINATED, NON-COMPLIANT EDUCATORS FACE CONSEQUENCES KATHY YANCHUS kyanchus@metroland.com