⏩ San Jose schools:
Teachers and staff will have to get vaccinated or be tested twice a week this fall, district officals say.
Teachers and other staff in San Jose schools will have to be vaccinated against the coronavirus or get tested twice a week, district officials announced this week, a decision directed at mitigating the delta variant and rising case rates just as classrooms are set to fully reopen.
The South Bay district was among the first school systems in the country to mandate vaccines for employees, following New York’s lead, even as other education officials across the Bay Area contemplate the idea.
San Jose Unified, which serves more than 30,000 students, appears to be the first district in the Bay Area to require employees to be vaccinated, but probably not the last.
“I think it’s probably likely that others will follow,” said Jennifer Maddox, spokeswoman for the district, given public health officials in
the Bay Area have urged employers to require vaccinations and some cities, including San Francisco, have already required them for city workers.
Patrick Bernhardt, president of the San Jose Teachers Association, was consulted about the idea, but the district handled the specifics.
“We definitely have a more collaborative relationship in San Jose,” the union leader said, adding that ventilation in district schools had been updated prior to the pandemic.
According to Maddox, 90% of the district’s more than 3,000 employees have already reported they are vaccinated. “I think for the vast majority of employees, it’s a nonissue,” she said.
San Jose Unified will not be offering a distance learning option in the fall, and all schools will be open for inperson instruction. Students will be required to wear masks indoors, and adult staff will also be required to wear masks when indoors with students. Masks will also be required outdoors unless students are eating, drinking or engaging in physical activity.
In July, California announced that masks will be required indoors at schools.
Though schools remained shuttered through much of the last year, San Jose schools did reopen classrooms in April, with about a third of students returning for inperson instruction, according to Maddox. She explained that for the kids who did return, masking was not an issue.
“It seems like the kids are good about it and don’t seem to mind it,” she said. “And it really is the best protection.”
Students and teachers in the district return to school for the 202122 school year on Aug. 18.
So far, officials in San Francisco Unified and other local districts have opted not to require vaccines, which would likely require the agreement of local labor unions.
As of Friday, spokespersons for the San Francisco Unified School District said although it hadn’t ruled out the possibility for a change later on, the district currently was not mandating vaccinations, or weekly testing for its staff and students.
Nathalie Hrizi, a spokesperson for the United Educators of San Francisco, told The Chronicle in a statement that “at the moment, vaccine mandates with disciplinary measures cannot be imposed as the vaccine does not have FDA approval,” referring to full approval. The vaccine is currently approved under emergency use authorization.
“UESF supports the requirement that workers either be vaccinated or be offered regular testing as a measure to keep workers, students and communities safe. We reject the idea that workers would face losing their jobs or other disciplinary actions for being unvaccinated — particularly in the midst of a continuing economic crisis,” the statement read.
San Francisco parent Josh Mukhopadhyay, whose 7yearold will be a secondgrader at Alvarado Elementary, said he is disappointed by the district’s silence on the issue of a vaccine mandate.
“If the decision is that they’re not going to make a vaccine mandate, they need to say why they’re doing that,” Mukhopadhyay said. “With 2½ weeks until school starts ... it’s just another example of district dysfunction.”
The decision was easier in New York City, where Mayor Bill de Blasio has control over the school district — while in San Francisco, the school district is independent, with oversight by the sevenmember school board, and not subject to city policies.
So even though Mayor London Breed has required all city employees to get mandated, SFUSD hasn’t yet.
The district hasn’t offered an explanation.
“We are reviewing the new OSHA guidance in consideration of next steps. We have been strongly urging staff and students who are eligible to get vaccinated for months, including to host vaccine clinics at schools over the summer,” said San Francisco district spokesperson Laura Dudnick.
California’s coronavirus test positivity rate climbed up to 6.2% this week, a level not seen since before individuals had access to vaccines in early February. San Francisco’s coronavirus positivity rate was 3.5%, several times higher than it was in June — 0.48%.
So far, 76% of San Francisco’s eligible population has been vaccinated, but with increasing concerns about the highly contagious delta variant, businesses and organizations are also starting to take protective new steps.
Earlier this week, droves of bars and restaurants announced they would require proof of vaccination to enter.
Bernhardt said the district, in talks with the unions, looked at the policies made by private sectors and government organizations before announcing its plan of a joint vaccination and testing requirement.
“I think it’s probably likely that others will follow.” Jennifer Maddox, spokeswoman for San Jose Unified