Why Stanislaus school districts say there aren’t plans to require staff vaccinations
Which school districts in Stanislaus County are requiring employees to be vaccinated against COVID-19? None, apparently.
The Modesto Bee reached out to district superintendents and other representatives and heard of no plans to require vaccinations because there’s no order from state or county health officials.
Tuesday morning, however, the California State University system announced that it’s joining the University of California in mandating that staff and students be vaccinated.
Judy Boring, public information officer for the Stanislaus County Office of Education, said SCOE continues to follow guidance from the state Department of Public Health and the state Division of Occupational Safety and Health, or Cal/OSHA.
“Currently, there aren’t plans to mandate staff vaccinations,” she said in an email, adding that such a requirement “would be negotiated with our bargaining units.”
Several school districts responded similarly. Citing state and Stanislaus County Public Health requirements, Patterson Joint Unified School District requires only masks “for both vaccinated and presumed unvaccinated staff members,” spokesman Johnny Padilla said via email. “Our district will continue to monitor and revise its policies appropriately as health and safety regulations progress.”
Though not mandating shots, Keyes Union School District Superintendent Helio Brasil responded that “we will, and I will fully support and encourage vaccination by all who can meet the requirements for vaccination.”
Turlock Unified School District communications chief Marie Russell said she knows of no public school district in the state that is requiring a COVID-19 vaccine for staff or students. And she pointed to state health guidance that says only that vaccination “is strongly recommended for all eligible people in California, including teachers, staff, students, and adults sharing homes with these members of our K-12 communities.”
Last month, in a KGO-TV article about San Francisco Unified School District discussing mandatory vaccines for staff, state education Superintendent Tony Thurmond was asked whether they might eventually be required of all school staff and students in the state. He replied, “Any requirement would have to come from a legislative act. That has not been introduced in our legislature.”
The California State University system announced Tuesday that it will require faculty, staff and students who will use any campus facilities to be vaccinated by the end of September.
The university is not waiting for any further action by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration because “the current surge in COVID cases due to the spread of the highly infectious Delta variant is an alarming new factor,” according to an article on its website.
The CSU action comes a week after the University of California system did the same.
As for the California Community Colleges system, its Chancellor’s Office does not have the legal authority to require vaccinations for students and employees systemwide, spokesman Rafael Chavez said in an email Wednesday. Rather, it urges all local districts to exercise their authority to adopt vaccination mandates.
This story was originally published July 27, 2021 at 11:44 AM.
