Teachers criticize vaccine decision
Administrator gets dose before class instructors
Some employees at the Novato Unified School District have been fuming since learning their superintendent received a coronavirus vaccine before in-classroom teachers.
The superintendent, Kris Cosca, got the shot during an inoculation event on Jan. 17 at the Marin County Civic Center. The event — held by the Marin County Department of Public Health and the Marin County Office of Education — vaccinated nearly 1,250 education employees from schools throughout the county.
The vaccines were reserved for tier 1 priority school workers, a category that includes custodians, food service workers, bus drivers and special education teachers and special day class teachers.
After everyone who showed up was vaccinated, there were still 200 vaccine doses available near the end of the event.
Already unfrozen and prepared, the doses had to be used by 4:30 p.m. or they would go to waste. The two county agencies sent out a mass notification to Office of Education staffers and called on school district superintendents to notify their employees of the extra doses.
The extra vaccines were being administered on a first-come, first-served basis. Anyone, regardless of their priority tier, could receive one.
Having been told by district administrators in advance that extra vaccines could be available, many teachers and school workers were keeping a close eye on their emails and phones that afternoon and jumped at the opportunity.
“There were a bunch of people that came at the end, way more than we could accommodate,” Terena Mares, deputy county schools superintendent, said on Monday.
Cosca said he and other superintendents received a text message from Dr. Matt Willis, the county public health officer, and Mary Jane Burke, the county superintendent or schools. The message encouraged him and other superintendents to be vaccinated and to inform their staff and teachers of the extra doses. A mass notification was sent to Novato district staff before 4 p.m.
“Upon arriving at the vaccination clinic, I checked in with both Dr. Willis and Mary Jane Burke to ensure my eligibility for the vaccine,” Cosca said in a written statement on Monday. “Both assured me that, as someone working in education, I was eligible and was helping to ensure they did not go to waste.
“I received the vaccination. While I do not know everyone who was vaccinated with these extra doses (and will not speak to those who I do know as that is their personal
medical information), I know that some of our classified staff, teaching staff, and administrative staff were also vaccinated.”
In addition to school employees, the more than 40 volunteers working at the event were given a vaccine, according to Mares. She could not confirm whether all school districts sent notices out to their employees about the extra doses.
Word of Cosca and administrative staff being vaccinated began to circulate among other district employees in the following days. Many have argued that they should have forgone the vaccinations and allowed inclassroom teachers and staff to take them, especially if the county’s ultimate goal is to resume in-classroom teaching countywide.
“It’s about choosing how you want to be a leader,” said Mariah Fisher, a middle school teacher and president of the Novato Federation of Teachers union. “When I think about leadership and what I’ve learned and seen about leadership, this doesn’t come through to me as being a good leader and really prioritizing your staff when it comes to safety and situations like this.”
After sending a message to staff this week about his vaccination, Cosca said he has received positive feedback for his decision. Because he works in the district office, Cosca said, he is part of the second priority tier of school workers, which includes all other inperson school employees not included in the first tier.
“So what they’re saying is they don’t like the county’s criteria,” Cosca said about the criticism. “I didn’t pick the priorities. Marin County Public Health picked the priorities.”
The backlash is an example of the tensions that can arise when there are not enough vaccines available to meet the demand. On average, Marin County receives 5,000 to 7,000 coronavirus vaccines each week, though some weeks it had received none, Willis told the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday. Each person requires two doses separated by three to
four weeks. Nearly 20,300 people, or close to 8% of Marin’s population, have received at least one vaccination dose since December.
It might be some time before education workers have another chance to be vaccinated. While the county began inoculating them this month in accordance with state guidelines, it now is shifting the priority to residents 75 and older because of their relatively high death rate.
The county has about 25,000 residents who are 75 or older. It is averaging about 1,500 vaccinations per day, Willis said.
“We are successful in moving vaccines forward as soon as we get them, and we’re hoping for more soon,” Willis told the Board of Supervisors.
After people 75 and older, the county will shift focus to residents between 65 and 74 years old before revisiting the three other priority tiers of school workers, according to Willis.
San Jose Middle School teacher Grace Cosentino received an email from the district notifying her of the extra doses on the afternoon of Jan. 17. As a teacher working remotely through video lessons, Cosentino is part of the third priority tier for school workers. She said she decided to drive down to see if it would even be possible for her to receive a vaccine, assuming no other tier 1 and tier 2 employees were waiting before her.
Nearly two freeway exits away from the Civic Center, Cosentino said she received another email from the district. The extra vaccines were gone.
“I feel like we as this whole county and even in our school district, we’re kind of stuck in this tricky position where we’re just looking for some hope,” Cosentino said. “We’re just trying to find opportunities for hope. I was very hopeful when I was driving down there.”
Cosentino said people should have a right to be vaccinated if they want to and wondered whether she should be concerned about administrators receiving the vaccine before other teachers.
“I think it is fair for me to be concerned about this,” she said. “This is the system that they created and this is the system that we’re trying to show respect and follow and especially for those teachers who are actively seeing students.”
More teachers and staff said they planned to raise their concerns at the school district trustees’ meeting on Tuesday evening.
San Francisco firefighter Adam Babendir is married to a Novato school district community liaison in tier 2. Babendir said his wife received an email about the extra doses just before 3:45 p.m. Jan. 17. About half an hour later, another email notified her the extra doses were gone.
Babendir said everyone should get a shot, but Cosca and other administrative employees should have allowed in-classroom staff and teachers to get the shot first.
“For me what it feels like is we’ve got the captain and co-captain of the Titanic getting on lifeboats and watching the Titanic sink while they’re safe,” Babendir said.
Cosca said he wishes all of the employees who showed up could have received the vaccine and was proud of those who did.
“I continue to advocate for our educators to receive priority for future batches of vaccinations and that our educators are immediately made aware of extra doses of vaccinations at the end of clinics,” Cosca wrote in his statement. “I will not stop until all of our educators who choose to receive the vaccine receive their vaccination.”