Sacramento school district votes to mandate COVID vaccines for students and staff
The Sacramento City Unified School District board voted at a special meeting Tuesday night to mandate COVID-19 vaccines for all eligible students and staff.
The mandate, which requires full vaccination, will go to into effect on Nov. 30, and also includes all dependent charter schools and adult education centers.
The decision supersedes the state’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate for eligible students by 2022 that Gov. Gavin Newsom announced in early October.
Six board members voted yes, and Board President Christina Pritchett abstained, stating she was in support of the COVID-19 vaccine, but wanted to provide families with a later deadline to comply.
Board members discussed concerns over parents pulling their children out of the already financially struggling school district in protest to the vaccine. Board members Leticia Garcia and Lavinia Grace Phillips said that while the mandate must be inclusive, safety must be prioritized.
“We have already implemented mitigation strategies that unfortunately have not brought confidence to families who are not sending their kids (to school),” Garcia said. “We have already used all the tools in our tool box except the hammer, which is the vaccine, and we can’t be afraid to use it ... We can’t be afraid whats going to happen with families leaving. I believe our families will come back because our families will feel safer.”
Students 12 and over, as well as staff must show proof of vaccination by the end of November or will need to have qualified and been approved for a medical or religious exemption.
During public comment, several parents asked for the district to not allow religious exemptions, expressing concern that too many families would find loopholes to avoid the mandate.
Once the FDA provides emergency use authorization for children ages 5-11, the district will consider a timeline for the younger Sacramento City Unified students.
Students and staff who are not yet vaccinated by the deadline or are not yet eligible for vaccination, will be regularly tested for COVID-19. Vaccinated students will not participate in screening testing at school and can remain on campus even if they are exposed to someone with COVID-19, as long as they remain without symptoms.
The district has COVID testing sites at every school site and the Serna Center for students and staff members. About 3,700 of the 4,800 Sacramento City Unified staff members are currently vaccinated, according to the district’s resolution.
The Sacramento City Teachers Association proposed requiring vaccines for staff and eligible students, along with mandatory COVID-19 testing for all students and staff, regardless of vaccination status in September and supports the resolution.
“A vaccine requirement is the path forward to keeping our schools open and increasing immunity,” district Superintendent Jorge A. Aguilar said. “As superintendent of Sac City Unified, I wake up every morning feeling the anxieties caused by this unprecedented pandemic and its threat to meeting the academic, social, emotional, nutritional and other needs of our students. For so many of our students, schools are their safe haven and I thank the Board for their approval of this resolution based on our commitment to meeting those student needs. We are taking a bold stand to protect public health.”
This story was originally published October 13, 2021 at 10:00 AM.