To whom it may concern, including Immanuel Christian School Councils and society board members, and particularly to District 51 representatives, 

This petition is on behalf of concerned parents, teachers, education assistants, society members, and supporters of the Society for Christian Education of Immanuel Christian School. We stand against the decision of Lethbridge School District 51 mandating vaccines or regular testing for our staff and implementing the Restrictions Exemption Program (REP) within the entire school district. We feel that these are decisions that should not be forced on individual schools and that we, as a school, should have the right to decide whether or not we force vaccinations and implement the REP. As a smaller school within the district, it would be more than reasonable for us to follow and enforce the alternate guidelines given by the Alberta government to implement the 1/3 capacity restriction, and to continue with enforcing current health measures. Many schools similar to ours in size have been implementing these measures successfully rather than enforcing the REP.  

We believe that forced vaccinations are causing more damage than good, particularly to children. Vaccinations have not shown to be 100% effective, especially against the most common variants of the time, and therefore the goal of achieving 100% vaccination within our schools does not eliminate all risk. It is not only the unvaccinated that are spreading the virus but also the vaccinated. Therefore constant, regular tests only for the unvaccinated is discriminatory. These tests are both expensive and unfair. As several recent studies have concluded, children are not a high-risk population for serious effects of Covid-19, therefore both forced vaccinations of staff and regular testing does not make sense within a low-risk population. We understand the use of vaccination and support all those who choose vaccination on their own, especially when working with a vulnerable population. Children are not at a high risk for serious effects from the virus. 

Regular testing for our teachers, as well as testing in order to set foot in our children’s schools, to volunteers in their classrooms, to go with them on field trips, to attend their concerts, to go to their sports events, etc. is expensive, unrealistic, and unfair. It is segregating us as a school and dividing us into the vaccinated vs. the unvaccinated. It is wearing on our children’s mental health, as many of us have not even been allowed to set foot in our own children’s classrooms for over a year and a half. These mandates and programs are doing nothing except creating an environment of bitterness, discrimination, and segregation within our school. And our children are being impacted the most. How are these decisions affecting our kids mentally? We have already personally seen the beginnings of rifts, as kids brag about being vaccinated, and children whose parents are unvaccinated are made to feel less important. This is being caused by not allowing their parents to visit them in their classrooms and be active members in their children’s lives at school, simply because of the personal decision that, for them, the vaccine isn’t the right choice. Rewarding some children based on the personal decisions of their parents while shaming those who do not, is creating a culture of hate within friendships and parent relationships.   

We, as concerned members and supporters of Immanuel Christian School, are appealing to Lethbridge School District 51 to remove the vaccination requirement/constant testing for all staff within our school and to remove the implementation of the REP within our school. We are asking that these not be blanket decisions covering every school within the district, but that individual schools be given the right to decide how to best act on current government orders and regulations. As our school is smaller than most within the district, we are asking to at least have the option to decide as a school whether to continue with the alternate guidelines set out by the government. We strongly believe that it would be better for our children to have parents be involved in their children’s school regardless of vaccination status. Please allow us to find a path which can keep unity within our children and parent’s friendships, while still maintaining a low-risk environment for our children to learn. Thank you.