School staff must get vaccine, or test weekly

All K-12 school employees in California will be required to show proof of vaccination against COVID-19 or submit to weekly testing under a public health order announced by Gov. Gavin Newsom on Wednesday.

Newsom’s office touted the order as a “first-in-thenation measure to encourage teachers and school staff to get vaccinated.” All schools are required to be in full compliance with the order by Oct. 15.

“To give parents confidence that their children are safe as schools return to full, in-person learning, we are urging all school staff to get vaccinated,” Newsom said in a news release announcing the order. “Vaccinations are how we will end this pandemic.”

Tuolumne County Superintendent of Schools Cathy Parker said she was not surprised at the announcement considering the direction the state has taken in recent weeks.

The order follows others aimed at encouraging more Californians to get vaccinated, including the same vaccination-or-testing requirement for all state employees, mandating all of the 2.2 million health care workers to be vaccinated by Sept. 30, universal masking in all K-12 schools, $350 million in Medi-cal vaccination incentives, and everyone wear masks in indoor public settings regardless of vaccination status.

Parker said she also wasn’t surprised because the state has created a robust, free testing system for all K-12 schools, which the county has been using since November.

“We had been selected as part of a pilot program for PCR testing back in November, so we’ve already been testing students and staff since that time,” she said. “High school districts especially have been testing students to meet sports guid

ance recommendations.”

The vaccination-or-testing requirement applies to teachers and any other school staff, including administrators, clerks, coaches and bus drivers.

Parker said there are about 1,000 employees throughout all 13 entities that comprise the county’s public school system, including 11 independent districts, her office, and Gold Rush Charter School.

Though the exact number of county school employees who have been vaccinated is unknown, Parker roughly estimated just under 65% based on logistics used for organizing mass vaccination clinics specifically for educators and school staff in January.

“We have no way to figure out that number unless the state requires us to report that data,” she said.

Parker expects the state will require the districts to report how many employees provide proof of vaccination and how many submit to weekly testing, though she noted that some who are vaccinated may opt out and still submit to weekly testing.

Students involved in sports and their coaches have already submitted to weekly testing as part of the state’s requirements for school athletics. Parker said employees in her office have been required to test weekly since November, but she doesn’t believe any other districts required the same of their staff.

There are just under 6,000 students in the county public school system, though Parker anticipates there will be more than that come October when they do their next enrollment count.

Parker said she is “100% in support” of school employees choosing to get vaccinated, especially with children under 12 currently not eligible for vaccination against COVID-19. One child under 12 in the county was recently hospitalized due to the virus.

“These protective measures are to protect them,” she said. “That’s why these additional protective measures are so important, along with increasing our vaccination rate among those who can get vaccinated.”

The share of the county’s total population who are fully vaccinated is relatively low at 43.7% as of Wednesday, compared with the state at 53.8% and U.S. at 50.3%. Children 12 to 17 have the lowest share of any eligible age group at just 19%.

Parker said she understood the hesitancy from parents to have their children get vaccinated for COVID-19, but she encouraged them to reach out to the county’s Public Health Department for more information on the safety of the vaccines.

“These protective measures are to protect them. That’s why these additional protective measures are so important, along with increasing our vaccination rate among those who can get vaccinated.”

— Cathy Parker, Tuolumne County superintendent of schools