INNISFAIL - The Red Deer Catholic Regional Schools (RDCRS) board of trustees has updated the division’s vaccination policy, a move that came by way of motion at a recent regularly scheduled board meeting.
“Alberta Health Services requested that our consent retrieval process for distributing and collecting immunization consent forms be revisited because of low response rates,” superintendent Kathleen Finnigan told the Albertan.
Trustees specifically approved an addition to Section 2 of the Policy 25: Immunization, which now states that division staff may “assist Alberta Health Services in the distribution and retrieval of forms and/or information, without taking on a communication role.”
The 10,400-student RDCRS division includes schools in Olds and Innisfail.
Under the updated policy, the RDCRS is “committed to serve the children and parents of the division in the best interests of the students’ physical, mental, spiritual, emotional and moral health, following the teachings and traditions of the Catholic Church.
“Schools will help all students to realize their responsibility to transform the world by practicing their Catholic faith. The board and schools are complementary to the family, which is the primary agent for the child’s formation.”
Section 1 of the policy remains unchanged, stating that the “division confirms that parents or guardians are the primary educators and decision-makers for health care matters for their children, and the decision to receive an immunization is a parental responsibility.
“The division does not endorse any of the vaccines administered by Alberta Health Services and defers to Alberta Health Services to determine the public health benefits.”
The vaccination policy was last revised in January 2014.
