UPDATE: Tuesday, 7:32 p.m.
PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — After meeting for about two hours, the Philadelphia Board of Education voted Tuesday night to require 20,000 district teachers and employees to get COVID-19 vaccines.
“We’ve reached a time when vaccine mandates are necessary," acting Philadelphia Health Commissioner Cheryl Bettigole said during the online meeting. The board unanimously agreed with her.
Superintendent William Hite is now charged with drawing up the plan.
“We’re still working out the details of when employees would need to receive the vaccine, as well as the consequences of choosing not to get the vaccine despite the requirement," said Hite.
One board member noted that lack of clarity for a deadline.
“I’m sending my unvaccinated almost-6-year-old into school on Aug. 31, and I have no idea: Are 100% of that staff vaccinated or 0%?” board member Mallory Fix Lopez noted.
Hite said the district would hold meetings for staff and teachers to help them through the vaccination mandate policies and would consider offering vaccinations at those meetings.
And now the superintendent will start negotiating terms of the mandate with the district’s five unions. That could begin as early as Wednesday.
The teachers union supports a mandate with medical and religious exemptions, but the head of UNITE HERE Local 634, the food service workers union, said she feared members would resign if the vaccine were required.
“We should not be telling people what to do with their bodies. If you and I decide to get the vaccine, that is our choice," said Nicole Hunt, the head of UNITE HERE Local 634.
“I fear this decision will make people resign if you make this a requirement of their jobs.”
Girls High staff member Christine Heying testified against a mandate.
“I am unvaccinated and I will remain so for medical reasons and with my doctor’s approval. Yet people in public have verbally attacked me as soon as they heard ‘not vaccinated,'” Heying said.
“This mandate essentially asks me to prove my disability and if I can’t, I will suffer progressive discipline as personnel who cannot timely comply. Right now I’m more afraid of my employer than catching COVID.”
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Original story
The Philadelphia Board of Education is meeting Tuesday night to vote on a vaccine mandate for teachers and staff. A special session is scheduled for 5 p.m.
This meeting is happening as vaccine mandates have been put into place around the country, an expected result of the FDA's full approval of the Pfizer vaccine. New York City, for example, wants its teachers and staff to have the shots for the school year.
It is unclear if the School District of Philadelphia will go down the same path.
School board members will vote Tuesday on a resolution that would allow Superintendent Dr. William Hite to implement a mandate, with religious and medical exemptions available. If the board approves the mandate, Hite would have to develop and implement a plan, as well as rules for contractors or service providers who go into school buildings.
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Just last week, Hite said he didn’t think the mandate could be in place by the first day of school, which is a week from today. There nis too much to put together in a short period of time, he says, but it could be good to go some time in the fall.
Officials believe a significant number of district employees are already vaccinated, so they would just have to show proof of their status. But the district estimates several thousand employees still need their shots.
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The unions would have to be involved as well. The Philadelphia Federation of Teachers has thrown its support behind a negotiated mandate.
The district believes a good number of employees are already vaccinated but several thousand are not.