Teachers next for the vaccine?

The entire world is like a song by the Kinks when it comes to the two new COVID-19 vaccines — who will be the next in line?

Earlier this week it was recommended that the answer to that question be first responders, grocery store and restaurant workers as well as teachers.

With Gov. Gavin Newson announcing on Wednesday a $2 billion package of financial incentives to encourage state school districts to resume in-person instruction as early as February, it’s a good chance teachers will be in the next tier.

Despite Newsom’s announcement, Solano County Office of Education Director of Community Affairs and Public Information Jennifer Leonard said on Monday that nothing is definitive and she’s heard only rumors that teachers will get the vaccine next.

Either way, Vallejo High Principal Jarrod Bordi was happy to hear the news from Newsom.

“I think it’s needed,” Bordi said of educators getting help. “I’m glad that education was acknowledged to be one of the top professions on the front line. One thing I really like from our new superintendent of Vallejo Unified School District ( William Spalding) is that he is cautious but very optimistic and has a good perspective.”

As of press time, Spalding could not be reached for comment. Bordi declined to comment when asked if teachers at Vallejo High School would be required to be vaccinated in order to teach in-person classes. He also declined to say if he would get vaccinated.

According to the Associated Press, employers can require employees to take safety measures, including vaccination. That doesn’t necessarily mean one would get fired if you refuse, but an employee might need to sign a waiver or agree to work under specific conditions to limit any risk one might pose.

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has allowed companies to mandate the flu and other vaccines, and has also indicated they can require COVID-19 vaccines.

There are exceptions. For example, people can request exemptions for medical or religious reasons.

Meanwhile, a number of students will have to wait for vaccinations. The Pfizer vaccine authorized in the United States this month is for people 16 and older. Testing began in October in children as young as 12, and is expected to take several more months. The Food and Drug Administration will have to decide when there is enough data to allow emergency use in this age group.

Moderna, which is expected to become the second COVID-19 vaccine greenlit in the United Staes, began enrolling study participants ages 12 to 17 in December, and will track them for a year. Testing in children younger than 12 is expected to start in early 2021.

Newsom’s new program would provide support for coronavirus testing, including weekly tests at schools in communities with the highest rates of transmission, though it doesn’t appear to mandate testing.

In announcing his new plan, Newsom cited growing evidence that younger children are at a lower risk of contracting and transmitting COVID-19 and that with adequate precautions in place, schools could operate effectively in-person without fueling the spread of the virus.

The proposed program, which will be submitted to the state legislature as an adjustment of the state budget, first prioritizes returning students from transitional kindergarten to second grade and students with higher needs, such as English learners, homeless, foster and low-income students, into the classroom as early as mid-February. The remainder of elementary school students would follow shortly thereafter, with a goal to be “back on track across the spectrum by spring 2021.”

Under the governor’s plan, districts that choose to transition to in-person instruction would receive about $ 450 per student, with the potential for additional funding up to about $700 per student for lowincome students, English learners and foster youth, Newsom said Wednesday.

In order to be eligible for the program, a school district must submit a safety plan to local and state agencies with a range of required mitigation measures, including a mandate that students and school staff wear masks at all times while on campus.

Only schools in counties with a seven-day average of fewer than 28 new coronavirus cases reported a day per 100,000 residents would be eligible to open. Even if a district decides to reopen, parents can opt to continue distance learning if they are not comfortable with sending their students back into a classroom, Newsom said.

Bordi, currently getting his doctrine at USC, has been using his time in Southern California to network with educators in other districts. He said he is not sure when students will come back to in-person instruction in Vallejo but said that certain grades like pre-K would be treated differently than students in high school.

“I’m very happy with our district’s leadership in our community,” Bordi said. “But it’s nice to get perspective and vision from other districts to see how they’re handling the situation as well. The dialogue and frame of reference has been expanded that way.”

Tony Thurmond, state superintendent of public instruction, said he recognizes that not every school will reopen but that the new funding will make it much easier for those that choose to.

“Our educators are leaning in and trying to provide everything they can, but we literally moved into distance learning overnight, and so there are unavoidable impacts that unquestionably have occurred,” he said. “We know that many families, foster families and homeless families, English learners, free and reduced lunch families, have been impacted in different ways, and so we’ll be continuing our work to strengthen family engagement strategies to ensure our kids are connected to their schools.”

Prior to the December surge, elementary school districts were permitted to apply for waivers to reopen schools for in-person classes but only a small portion of schools across the state had done so. Vallejo and Jesse Bethel has remained in distance-learning instruction since the pandemic began, but other local high schools such as American Canyon and St. Patrick- St. Vincent have returned to some mode of in-person instruction since October.

Along with the additional funding, Newsom has called for the creation of a new state dashboard that would enable all Californians to see their school’s reopening status, level of available funding and data on school outbreaks.

Maggie Angst of Bay Area News Group, along with the Associated Press, contributed to this report.