The ACT Education Directorate will not know how many teachers it will need to redeploy because of the vaccination mandate until late on Sunday, Education Minister Yvette Berry says.
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In the midst of a shortage of casual teaching staff, Ms Berry said directorate officials may need to step in when the first stage of the health direction comes into force on Monday.
"There's been a lot of work obviously forecasting on all the possibilities around what what would happen as a result of the vaccination mandate," Ms Berry said.
"But, yes, we are confident that at the moment we will have enough staff to be able to continue to have our schools operating appropriately and having teaching staff in place."
The vaccination mandate has already caused the principal of Charnwood-Dunlop School Rob Lans to take time away from his job.
A letter signed by 79 school and early childhood educators opposing the mandate was circulated to some ACT politicians last week, indicating there could be more staff who need to be redeployed in work away from younger students.
Ms Berry said Mr Lans was unlikely to return to the school this term.
As of November 1, all teachers and staff who come into contact with children under 12 in schools and early learning settings will need to show evidence from the Australian Immunisation Register they have received one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine.
By November 29, school staff need to prove they have had their second dose.
It includes learning assistants, support staff, canteen workers and maintenance staff who work while children are present.
The mandate also applies to educators and adult residents of a family day care service.
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The maximum penalty for a person who fails to comply with the health direction is an $8000 fine.
Association of Independent Schools of the ACT executive director Andrew Wrigley said the vaccination mandate did not come as a surprise to non-government schools.
"They've had really, really positive take-up of the priority vaccination process for staff and they were citing ... well into the 90 per cents of staff had been vaccinated," Mr Wrigley.
School principals are responsible for gathering evidence of vaccination and to ensure all staff complied with the health order.
The mandate will be in force until the end of the year or when the health emergency finishes, whichever is earlier.
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