Mandatory vaccines for teachers/staff and eligible students

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Vaccines should have been required a long time ago. Better late than never, though.

+1

[Anonymous]

So the DC mandatory vaccination covers all DCPS employees? The one the Montgomery County council proposed ex mots MCPS, though it sounds like MCPS is now considering one.

[jsteele]

It looks like the mandate will be announced today. Mayor Bowser has a press conference scheduled for 11:00 am with the heads of local labor unions:

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So the DC mandatory vaccination covers all DCPS employees? The one the Montgomery County council proposed ex mots MCPS, though it sounds like MCPS is now considering one.

Yes. It’s different because in MOCO teacher and school staff are employed by the school district. In DCPS everyone is a DC government employee.

[Anonymous]

They should just fire teachers who refused to get vaccinated. It's crazy to let these anti-vaxxers undo all the sacrifices everyone has made over the past 18 months to keep coronavirus rates down.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:They should just fire teachers who refused to get vaccinated. It's crazy to let these anti-vaxxers undo all the sacrifices everyone has made over the past 18 months to keep coronavirus rates down.

Yes let’s leave the other unvaxxed staff to work in schools. But OUT WITH THE TEACHERS

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They should just fire teachers who refused to get vaccinated. It's crazy to let these anti-vaxxers undo all the sacrifices everyone has made over the past 18 months to keep coronavirus rates down.

Yes let’s leave the other unvaxxed staff to work in schools. But OUT WITH THE TEACHERS

Staff too. Everyone employed by DCPS gets vaccinated, or you go find another job. DC needs to stop coddling anti-vaxxers.

[jsteele]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They should just fire teachers who refused to get vaccinated. It's crazy to let these anti-vaxxers undo all the sacrifices everyone has made over the past 18 months to keep coronavirus rates down.

Yes let’s leave the other unvaxxed staff to work in schools. But OUT WITH THE TEACHERS

Staff too. Everyone employed by DCPS gets vaccinated, or you go find another job. DC needs to stop coddling anti-vaxxers.

Hold your horses, folks. A mandate is being announced right now.

[Anonymous]

I'm so excited about this mandate. I think it's good for students, teachers, staff, families, and the community. I really need my kid back in school this year (on just about every level) but I have been so stressed about potential Covid spread and both the risk it poses to my child and the risk it poses to in-person school.

Knowing that all adults in the school will either be vaccinated or submitting to a rigorous testing schedule is huge in terms of confidence and peace of mind. I feel like I've been holding my breath for months and I just exhaled. So glad they reached a deal with the teacher's union, too. Vaccines are the answer and we're so lucky to have them.

[Anonymous]

Does this apply to charter schools?

[Anonymous]

Can someone post link to text of mandate?

[jsteele]

Anonymous wrote:Can someone post link to text of mandate?

I haven't seen in it writing yet, but I am listening to the press conference. The mandate is for all government employees and anyone hired in the future. There are religious and medial exemptions and those folks have to provide weekly negative tests. Employees have until September 19 to get their vaccinations (I am not sure if this is for both or just the first)*.

For the person asking about charter schools, charter employees are not DC employees. Therefore, the mandate does not cover them.

* Edit to clarify that I just learned this is fully vaccinated.

[Anonymous]

jsteele wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can someone post link to text of mandate?

I haven't seen in it writing yet, but I am listening to the press conference. The mandate is for all government employees and anyone hired in the future. There are religious and medial exemptions and those folks have to provide weekly negative tests. Employees have until September 19 to get their vaccinations (I am not sure if this is for both or just the first).

For the person asking about charter schools, charter employees are not DC employees. Therefore, the mandate does not cover them.

Thanks. So is this not the "vax or test" that was described earlier, but "vax or you'd better have an exemption and test"? What I am understanding is that this policy leaves no room for antivaxxers. Is that correct?

[Anonymous]

Hmm..."charter schools aren't DC employees" so there is no mandate. Only DC government employees must be vaxed by Sept 19. Or weekly negative test.

This may open the door for charters to do the same but she can't mandate it, sounds like.

[jsteele]

Anonymous wrote:Thanks. So is this not the "vax or test" that was described earlier, but "vax or you'd better have an exemption and test"? What I am understanding is that this policy leaves no room for antivaxxers. Is that correct?

There was a question about employees without exemptions and whether they could get test instead. I wasn't paying that close of attention at that point, but I believe that answer was that they would have to be tested. I think that realistically there is no way to prove that a claimed exemption is valid so basically anyone who is not vaxxed will have to be tested whether they are claiming an exemption or not.