COVID-19 student vaccine mandate Walkout hits Corning

Oct. 21—The mandate announced by Gov. Gavin Newsom on Oct.1 requiring all students kindergarten through 12th grade in public, charter and private schools receive a COVID-19 vaccine for allowance to in-person learning starting the next school term has been met by statewide protests, including right here in Corning.

On Monday, Oct. 11 several members of the community took part in a school "Walk-Out," to protest the mandate, during which students from kindergarten to high school didn't attend school, as well as some teachers.

And while the mandate allegedly allows for religious or personal exemptions, many in the community said the mandate itself it an attack on personal freedoms.

Patty Smith, who formerly worked at Rancho Tehama Elementary School, was one of those protesting the mandate in front of the Corning Union Elementary School District Office on Monday.

During public comment period at the Tehama County Board of Education meeting last week people commented about COVID-19 mandated vaccines for about 40 minutes before the board said it needed to get back to the agenda.

"The people that spoke did amazing jobs, every single one of them," Smith said.

Johanna Rector, who was among the protestors in front of the district office, said she is 100 percent against the mandate.

"They have produced no proof that it works, especially on children. This is not right," she added.

Another protestor, Joyce Lequia, said she is afraid Americans are slowly losing their freedoms.

"If we don't take a stand now, when is the right time and the right cause. The time is now," she stated.

Corning Union High School District Superintendent Jared Caylor reported the school district had 66 percent student attendance on Monday.

"This was due to the walkout. We normally have 97 percent attendance on any given school day" he said.

Caylor was one of the school district superintendents who attended a meeting last week with Tehama County Department of Education Superintendent Richard DuVarney to discuss the mandate subject.

"During the meeting, Tehama County Health Officer Dr. Jennifer Brown said according to her understanding from the state, the vaccine mandate would not go into affect until July 1. That still leaves a lot of questions for school districts concerning timing and process if the state goes through with this mandate," Caylor added.

One of the reasons he wants the official information from the state as soon as possible, is to be ready to fight it.

"We need to know the law surrounding this action and how to fight it if we want to, but all the governor did was hold a press conference announcing the mandate without providing any backup information. He has left everything rather vague. That has left us with so many unanswered questions," Caylor added.

He questions whether or not the state will implement fiscal sanctions and regulatory authorities, such as CalOSHA, on school districts that choose to fight the mandate.

"The state doesn't seem to understand the implications this mandate could have on school districts and the communities those districts serve," Caylor said. "We anticipate several levels of litigation in this matter. This is something I have discussed with the district board and they stand as opposed to the mandate and support of parents' rights."

Smith believes the mandate is pushing residents to say "enough is enough".

"People have had it," she said. "This is about our children and the say-so parents have concerning their children. Our children do not belong to the state."

Corning Union Elementary School District Superintendent Tiffany Dietz, who also attended the county meeting with Caylor, said the district's attendance on Monday was down about 30 percent.

"We were missing quite a few students, but I don't believe it will have much of an impact on the district, possibly some funding for just that day, but nothing too bad," she added.

As for the vaccine mandate, Dietz feels there is not enough information available to respond to Newsom's announcement.

"There is a lot of time between now and July, anything could happen and I don't know what will happen. There is so much unknown right now, we will just have to wait and see what comes down from the state," she said. "To this point, the vaccine mandate and the response by the district is not something I have discussed with the district's board of trustees."