LOS ANGELES (KNX) — The Los Angeles Unified School District Board of Education is considering pushing back its COVID-19 vaccine mandate for students until next fall — a move that would spare about 30,000 students from shifting to online learning.
The district has required all students aged 12 and up to receive their second dose of the vaccine by Dec. 19. The district’s current plan stated students who do not have proof of vaccination or an exemption would not be permitted on school campuses and will have to participate in the district’s independent study program beginning Jan. 10.
More than 86% of students 12 and older are in compliance as of Friday. At the board’s meeting Tuesday, members will discuss plans to delay the transfer of the thousands of non-compliant students until the beginning of the fall 2022 semester.
“The science is clear — vaccinations are an essential part of protection against COVID-19,” Interim Superintendent Megan K. Reilly said. “Los Angeles Unified applauds the 86.52% of students aged 12 and older and their families who are in compliance with the vaccine mandate, and the many other families who are still in the process of adding their vaccine records to the system. This is a major milestone, and there’s still more time to get vaccinated!”
Board member Jackie Goldberg makes it clear that the district is not considering lifting the mandate all together.
“So what’s going to happen is that they’re going to be allowed to come to school but the mandate is not lifted. You must get vaccinated,” Goldberg told KNX. “We will, however, give you more time to do so.”
Everyone on campus will continue to get tested through January, but after that, only unvaccinated students will have to undergo weekly testing. And schools that have less than a compliance rate of 85% will require everyone to wear masks.
As to why they’re considering pushing back the deadline, Goldberg had this to say: “Because when we removed the 28,000 students from their schools and the teachers that would have to follow them, we were adjusting or upsetting the schedules of all of the vaccinated students. And we decided that was just not fair.”
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