Vaccinated students worry SD45 stance on vax passports could cause them to miss out

A group of students who are part of their school’s “model UN” club at Rockridge Secondary say they still don’t know if they’ll be able to go to the first in-person conference being held in two years, because the school district won’t officially take part in any extracurricular events that require teens be vaccinated.

And that means even teens who are fully vaccinated may not be able to take part.

The Vancouver model UN is a once-a-year conference for high school students that happens at the Hyatt Regency hotel downtown. At the conference, up to 1,600 students typically take on roles of delegates from different countries as though they were taking part in debates at the real United Nations general assembly.

The conference is designed to flex their public speaking skills while immersing them in current global issues.

Annalise Knapp, 17, is a Grade 12 student in Rockridge's model UN club. She's also fully vaccinated.

After missing out on the chance to attend an in-person event for two years, Knapp said she was looking forward to going in her graduating year.

But last month, as registration was opening for the conference, Knapp said students were told their club wouldn’t be able to sign up – because the event requires that students present proof of vaccinations.

“I was just shocked,” she said. “To me, it didn’t make any sense.”

“We’re doing our part and getting vaccinated, yet we’re being held back.”

'We're doing our part . . . yet we're being held back.'

Alina Jarvis, 15, is another vaccinated student who’s a member of the club.

“When we heard the school district wasn’t allowing us to go, we were very confused and disappointed,” she said. “We didn’t think it was right.”

Students were told the school district can’t be associated with any event that requires a vaccine passport for teens, because “school activities,” including extracurricular events, are supposed to be open to all students – including those who are unvaccinated.

But “it doesn’t seem like a valid reason to make everyone not go,” said Jarvis.

If students decide not to be vaccinated, “they should understand they can’t go to some places,” she said.

“I get where the district is coming from,” said Baran Chahardovalee, 14, another member of the club who's had her vaccinations. “But why if one person doesn’t get to go should nobody get to go?”

Currently, the three-day conference that takes place Feb. 4-6, 2022, requires that all participants have proof of full vaccination.

Concerns raised over other activities

The model UN isn’t the only extracurricular event that has been impacted. Organization of a Rockridge grad boat cruise this month was taken over by parents after the operator of the cruise insisted that vaccine passports be required.

Students say they’re concerned that some other grad activities – which typically take place in large event venues – could also be impacted.

Students in the model UN club have been told it’s possible they’ll still get to go to the conference – if the organization itself decides to change the rules around vaccine passports in time for them to register.

Sean Nosek, associate superintendent for the West Vancouver school district, said as a public institution, the school district has to ensure all activities are inclusive. “We don’t want barriers,” he said – including barriers for unvaccinated students. The public health order has made it clear “school activities do not require vaccine passports in order to participate,” said Nosek.

School district must ensure all activities are inclusive

“We don’t know which of our students are vaccinated or not,” he said. "We want to ensure access and equity for all."

Nosek said extracurricular activities are still considered “school activities” if they are associated with school. Very recently, the public health order was amended to specifically exempt extracurricular activities organized for teens under 22 from vaccine passports, said Nosek.

What’s unclear, so far, is what happens when other third parties – like a conference organizer or Grouse Mountain Resort, for instance – still require the vaccine passport.

“I think we all share some of the frustration around the dynamic of the vaccinated and the unvaccinated,” said Nosek, adding he is sympathetic to students who feel they are being held back by their unvaccinated peers.

“We know we’re coming off a couple of years where families were not able to have the kind of experiences we’d hoped,” he said, adding the school district has been happy to see activities like school clubs, sports and field trips return this year.

Hans Knapp, Annalise’s father, said he’s not pleased with the school district’s approach.

School district approach  'doesn't make much sense' says dad

Holding students who are vaccinated back from activities just because a vaccine passport is in place “doesn’t make much sense and it turns the entire vaccine mandate on its head for the kids that have stepped up and done their part,” he said.

For months, Dr. Bonnie Henry, the province’s medical health officer, has been urging everyone to get vaccinated so everyone "can get back to some sense of normalcy and engagement,” he said. Yet in this case, he says, the opposite is happening.

Many parents don’t know about the school district's approach, he said, and those who do aren’t happy.

Knapp said he also questions whether other school districts are interpreting the rules around “school activities” the same way.

“All the school district has done is spoil it for everyone.”