YCCD board makes decision on COVID-19 protocol for MJC, Columbia students, staff
The Yosemite Community College District board voted Wednesday to approve a COVID-19 testing program despite concerns it’s not enough to prevent outbreaks when a large number of students return to classrooms at Modesto Junior College and Columbia College for the spring 2022 semester.
The resolution, approved on a 5-2 vote Wednesday evening, does not include a COVID vaccination mandate that’s common at many universities in California and is imposed at some community colleges. Two of the three committee members who crafted the resolution — board Chairwoman Margie Bulkin and Trustee Darin Gharat — voted against Trustee Jenny Nicolau’s motion to move forward with the testing program.
Gharat said he previously expressed concern about a portion of the resolution that includes vaccinated students in the testing requirement. Gharat said it will cost the district an extra $1 million in one semester and also serve as a disincentive to students getting vaccinated.
Bulkin seemed sympathetic to an Academic Senate request to delay the decision until the committee talks with faculty members about COVID-19 safety measures. But she said passing the resolution now would not prevent the board from considering additional measures in the future.
Nicolau declined to amend the motion and stressed she could not support mandatory vaccinations. The resolution approved Wednesday allows for freedom of choice in making personal health decisions and attempts to satisfy the different opinions expressed to the board last month.
“I would not make that decision for someone else,” Nicolau said. “Nobody is a winner in this resolution. But nobody is a loser.”
Now that the resolution is approved, district administrators will develop a program setting testing protocols for students attending classes and staff working on campus. The community college district has not decided how frequently unvaccinated students and those vaccinated must be tested for the virus.
Trustee Nancy Hinton cited breakthrough infections in suggesting an initial test for vaccinated people to ensure they’re not asymptomatic carriers of the virus. After that is established, Hinton didn’t see a need for frequent testing of vaccinated students.
Along with unvaccinated people, testing requirements also will apply to people who have recovered from COVID-19.
Almost a dozen speakers urged the board to adopt mandatory vaccinations for students and staff to create a safer environment at MJC and Columbia College. MJC is shooting to hold 43% of its courses on campus during the upcoming spring semester.
Don Messamer, an MJC graduate and intensive care nurse at Doctors Medical Center, said he has seen hundreds of people die of COVID-19. He said 90% of COVID patients admitted to the ICU are not vaccinated.
He said some of the ICU patients are close to his age and have included a 20-year-old, while the few vaccinated patients are on immunosuppressant drugs, have cancer or transplanted organs — issues that limit the vaccine’s effectiveness.
“It’s essential that you have a vaccine mandate in your protocols,” Messamer said. “If you don’t, people will die.”
Vaccines are highly effective
Erynn Lucas, who teaches microbiology, said there is overwhelming evidence the vaccines are excellent at protecting people against serious disease and death.
The only speaker who supported the resolution countered that vaccinations are an individual choice and noted that young people have lower risk of serious complications from COVID-19.
Darin Haydoc, a Turlock parent, told the board a program without a vaccine mandate will result in fewer students in lecture halls and push the goal of face-to-face learning far into the distance. He said his daughter taking online courses has struggled with chemistry and the labs are difficult.
He said the resolution denies his daughter and other students the choice to have an education.
Trustee Leslie Beggs clarified wording in the resolution, which said testing will occur at reasonable time intervals to provide increased safety against the spread of COVID-19 but will “not be punitive.” Beggs said the phrasing didn’t mean the testing requirement should not have an enforcement mechanism; rather, the committee wanted to make sure testing isn’t used to pressure unvaccinated students to get the shots.
YCCD trustees plan to review the testing program and requirements in March. The testing policy is scheduled to expire Aug. 20, 2022.
This story was originally published October 21, 2021 at 5:35 AM.
