Push for school mandates fuels debate across region

PPS expected to require staff to get vaccinated

The Pittsburgh Public Schools and the union that represents its staff are working on an agreement that will require district employees to get vaccinated against or regularly tested for COVID-19.

District solicitor Ira Weiss said Wednesday a health and safety memorandum of understanding being discussed by officials from the school system and Pittsburgh Federation of Teachers will include the vaccine and testing mandate.

The memorandum is expected to be finalized within several days and builds on the agreement the

district and union reached last year pertaining to issues such as quarantine rooms in schools and other health and safety matters.

“We are discussing an MOU with the PFT now which will address instances in the event of a shutdown and also the issue of a vaccine mandate,” Mr. Weiss said. “I expect we’re going to get a resolution of this in the very near future.”

In preparation for the memorandum to be finalized, the school board passed a resolution at its meeting Wednesday night that said all current or prospective school employees must provide proof of vaccination status to district administration “at a date to be determined.” Any employee that does not provide proof of vaccination status or claims a religious exemption must submit to weekly testing, the resolution said.

Mr. Weiss said the teachers union has been “supportive” of a vaccine mandate.

Nina Esposito-Visgitis, the PFT president, confirmed the union and district were in discussions about a vaccine mandate but declined to elaborate.

“I’m really happy and relieved that we are able to come to an agreement on this,” board member Pam Harbin said at the meeting. “I want to acknowledge that Nina Esposito-Visgitis came out very early saying that she supported it, and I know many, many district employees support it and have told me to support it.”

Ms. Esposito-Visgitis said earlier this month she believed 100% of school employees should get vaccinated, but she did not go as far as calling for it to be required.

The Pittsburgh Public Schools has about 4,000 employees, more than 3,000 of which are in the union.

The only other school entity in southwestern Pennsylvania to require vaccines or regular testing for its staff is the Environmental Charter School. Accommodations will be made for employees who cannot receive the COVID-19 vaccine for medical or religious reasons, the school said.

The Philadelphia school board on Tuesday mandated COVID-19 vaccines for all of its more than 20,000 staffers. Philadelphia school employees will be able to submit requests for exemption, “which may be based on certain documented medical circumstances or sincerely held religious beliefs,” the board decided.

The Upper Merion Area School District near Philadelphia is one of the few other school systems in the state that has implemented a plan requiring teachers and staff to be vaccinated or submit to testing.

With rising coronavirus case counts, the spread of the delta variant and the looming start of the school year, more schools throughout the nation are taking such actions.

Gov. Phil Murphy has ordered all New Jersey teachers to be vaccinated. The New York City public school system, the nation’s largest, is also requiring inoculation.

Alexandra Wimley/Post-Gazette Story, Local, B-1 Dr. Brooke Decker, left, of Marshall, director of infection prevention of the VA Pittsburgh Healthcare System, argues with Dana Gibson, right, of McCandless, about Ms. Gibson's opposition to a mask mandate for students on Wednesday. Everlee Craddock, of Baden, looks on before the North Allegheny School District school board meeting regarding the district's mask policy at North Allegheny Senior High School in McCandless.

Andrew Rush/Post-Gazette From left, Lucy Fortier, Maisie Curtis, Josiah Williams and Karter Brown, from Geri Rabinowitz's second grade class, look at a plastic bug they found Wednesday during recess at Environmental Charter School's Lower School in Point Breeze.

Alexandra Wimley/Post-Gazette Students walk through the hallway during the first day of school at Mars Area Elementary School on Wednesday in Mars. Masks are optional for students and teachers in the district.