What’s more important — Stanislaus students’ health, or getting re-elected?

The elected head of schools in Stanislaus County deserves a rap on the knuckles for pandering to conservative voices rather than taking a stand to protect the health of children, teachers and other staff.

Scott Kuykendall, county superintendent, missed a chance to provide support when California late last week became the first state in the country to boldly say COVID-19 vaccines will be required when they’re approved for all students. Instead, Kuykendall said California should “pump the brakes.”

Kuykendall might have joined a long list of respected scientists and educators lauding the policies of Gov. Gavin Newsom that have helped California attain the lowest case rate in the entire United States. Instead, Kuykendall suggested waiting to see “the effectiveness of natural immunity.”

At the very least, Kuykendall might have taken a cautious approach by suggesting we cross the vaccine mandate bridge when we come to it — probably sometime next year, when shots for children are approved.

He might have provided hope to anxious students and parents asking for maximum protection in classrooms, who are tired of dealing with masks and closure threats in a pandemic that continues only because too many have swallowed the misinformation and outright lies questioning the safety of vaccines. He might have taken a stand for teachers who now put their lives on the line to help our young people, in Modesto and beyond.

Instead, Kuykendall played politics.

The truth: Several weeks ago, as a national debate raged over requiring masks at school, California became the first state to encourage masks. We also became the first to urge staff vaccinations.

Partly because of a higher standard, California was the first state to drop from high virus risk to moderate, according to Centers for Disease Control metrics.

We are not afraid of the science that in record time produced the answer to the deadly pandemic. And despite angry, ill-informed parents demanding license to continue spreading infection under the guise of freedom — including in our own county, as Kuykendall is all too well aware — state policies are working.

Let’s not lose momentum, Stanislaus

“Thanks to public health measures, our communities have opened up, we have been able to hug loved ones, and can now gather again,” said Tony Thurmond, California superintendent of public instruction — Kuykendall’s counterpart on the state level. “Let’s not lose that progress. The governor’s action comes at the right time.”

“This is not a new idea,” said Dr. Peter Bretan, Jr., president of the California Medical Association. “We already require vaccines against several known deadly diseases before students can enroll in schools.”

And Susan Heredia, president of the California School Boards Association, said: “The patchwork of different methods for COVID-19 mitigation at the local level was not the most effective approach for this particular crisis. California requires a more comprehensive strategy that frees local school boards from the need to act as de facto public health officials.”

There is some merit to one part of Kuykendall’s statement — that the state might wait for “long-term studies and better answers to questions, including appropriate vaccine dosage.” But that’s exactly why Newsom’s pronouncement would not take effect for middle and high school grades until the vaccine receives full approval from the Food and Drug Administration, and for kids under 12, a full school term after FDA approval.

Our best shot at keeping schools open is in vaccinating as many students and staff as possible, as quickly as possible — not in shrill demands for special dispensation and stubborn insistence that we somehow know better than the leading doctors and scientists in the nation.