Glendale Unified School District is the latest in Los Angeles County to adopt vaccination mandates for employees. The GUSD board of education voted to approve the mandate Tuesday night. All employees must now be fully vaccinated by Nov. 1.
Last month LAUSD announced a similar mandate and will require all employees to be vaccinated by Oct. 15.
Related
Both district decisions come behind a statewide mandate that affects all schools, and requires employees to be vaccinated by mid-October.
Governor Gavin Newsom announced the mandate in early August and made clear that any employee who refuses the vaccine will be subject to weekly COVID-19 testing.
There are more than 24,000 students on campus in the GUSD. The district has recorded 61 cases of the virus among students since in-person learning resumed two weeks ago, according to its COVID-19 dashboard. 36 cases have been identified in the last 10 days.
Just four cases among the 2,930 on-campus teachers have been recorded since the same date, Aug. 18.
More than 5,610 employees and students have been quarantined at home since Aug. 18, due to potential exposure, according to GUSD Communications Director Kristine Nam.
The number, Nam said, does not indicate how many people are at home right now.
"That's cumulative," Nam said. "Overall since the first day of school, that's the current number of staff and students who have been [contact traced and] identified as 'close contacts' of someone who tested positive and have then quarantined."
The large number, Nam said, can partially be attributed to the district's quarantine protocol. While some districts send only students and staff who have been within six feet of someone who tested positive home, GUSD sends the entire class home for at least eight days.
Read more about the district's quarantine and exposure policy here.
Related
