Kingdom East Proposes Employee Vaccine Mandate
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- Created on Sunday, 24 October 2021 16:08
- Written by Alexandra Huff
Article Written in Collaboration by Nick Fish, Quinlan Peer, Kaitlin Flannigan, and Alexandra Huff.
AROUND THE NEK - Aftering hearing feedback on a previous draft policy requiring all Kingdom East School District employees to be vaccinated against COVID-19, a committee voted to bring a new draft before the school board.
The committee looked at a new draft of the policy Thursday evening after hearing negative feedback from the community at a previous board meeting. Local community member Bruce Penfield told the board "The best way to protect the school, the staff, and the students is by testing--weekly testing and wearing masks. I believe a vaccine mandate is unethical."
The idea of a vaccine mandate has school officials across the state questioning policies of vaccination and testing. St. Johnsbury School Superintendent Dr. Brian Ricca shared "We are struggling with this. We are struggling physically to do what is being asked of us. We are struggling in our hearts, honestly; [struggling] emotionally with what is being asked of us."
The Caledonia County Supervisory Union has already discussed a similar vaccine memorandum, unanimously approved by the union board. CCSU's policy asks employees to be fully vaccinated, offering administrative sick days to recover from the dose(s), or agree to periodic testing. It is now up to Superintendent Mark Tucker and the staff education unions on whether it will move forward.
Kingdom East's original draft required all employees to be fully vaccinated, unless medical or religious exemption is approved, or face unpaid leave and possible termination. The school board's Strategic Planning Committee, previously a group of two but now a group of three after the appointment of Lindsay Carpenter, rewrote their vaccine mandate to include testing for unvaccinated employees. It was passed in a 2 to 1 vote and now heads to the full school board for their November 9 meeting. An anonymous poll will be taken of the staff in the Kingdom East district on the new policy, and that poll will also be presented at the November 9 school board meeting.
