The Los Angeles Unified School District Board of Education voted 6 to 1 on Tuesday to rescind its two-year-old COVID-19 vaccine mandate for staff, saying it is no longer needed to assure safe in-person learning.
Boardmember George McKenna cast the sole dissenting vote, saying he believes that science still supports the need for the COVID-19 vaccine in today’s environment.
The COVID mandate went into effect on Oct. 1, 2021 and over time led to the termination of more than 600 employees who refused the vaccine and did not qualify for medical or religious exemptions.
Staff who were placed on unpaid leave because they refused to follow the mandate may be invited to return under the conditions of their leaves. Staff who departed the district or were reassigned to a virtual classroom are eligible to apply for an in-person position.
At the time the mandate was enacted, many praised the bold action to protect students and staff from the spread of the virus, and some 97% of employees met the deadline for getting vaccines.
“I do not regret what we did for one moment, not 30 seconds, not one tiny bit” said Board President Jackie Goldberg during Tuesday’s meeting. “The highest death rates in the country were in states where there were no vaccine requirements.”
But some staff and community members saw the mandate as an attack on people’s medical freedom and were outraged by the ultimatum that staff either get vaccinated or lose their jobs.
Several former employees and activist organizations filed lawsuits against the district seeking to repeal the vaccine requirement.
The LAUSD board’s resolution to rescind the measure does not refer to any legal action, and instead points to the winding down of city, state and federal emergency health declarations and to COVID-19’s transition to an endemic disease that is here to stay but no longer a pandemic.
“This was a necessary requirement and it was adopted so that schools could reopen safely based on…
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