St. Paul school board requires COVID vaccines for all staff, or weekly test

Sep. 4—All St. Paul public schools employees will be required to get a coronavirus vaccine or submit to weekly testing, under a policy unanimously approved Friday morning by the school board.

The policy, which will begin Oct. 15 — more than a month after students are scheduled to return — affects all employees, including teachers, administrators and other workers, full- and part-time, as well as contractors, volunteers, regular visitors and others working "onsite."

The mandate does not affect eligible students or parents who show up briefly to, say, pick up a child. All St. Paul Public Schools buildings are already under a mask mandate.

GET VAXXED, OR GET TESTED

Under a resolution adopted by the board Friday morning, starting Oct. 15, every employee not fully vaccinated will be required to submit to a weekly COVID-19 testing regimen yet to be specified. Employees wishing to avoid weekly testing will be required to show "acknowledgment of" vaccination.

The district's human resources department might require documentation of the vaccine from some employees in a yet-to-be finalized policy intended to audit compliance, although the word "proof" was removed from the policy's official language before it was adopted.

"We're gonna take people at their word," General Counsel Chuck Long explained, referring to those not audited, prompting School Board member John Brodrick to question whether the mandate had "any teeth."

Long responded that he believed it did because if an employee were found to be lying, they could be disciplined.

The vaccination status of employees will remain confidential, so students, parents and colleagues won't be able to find out whether any individual has gotten a shot unless the employee volunteers it.

The term "fully vaccinated" refers to a portion of time after the final injection of a vaccine when the body has mounted its most robust immune response. The time period from the initial shot to that point varies by vaccine.

NOT FIRST IN STATE

Friday's adoption of the vaccine-or-test mandate isn't the first for a Minnesota public school district; Intermediate District 287 in the west metro, for example, recently adopted a similar plan.

Such policies — perhaps unthinkable in the pre-COVID history of American education — are a late-developing strategy as the delta variant surges through unvaccinated populations, including children, stressing pediatric intensive care units across the nation. People younger than 12 years old aren't eligible for any COVID vaccine.

The high risk of delta outbreaks inside schools was illustrated by a recent case-study in Marin County, Calif., where a single unvaccinated teacher is believed to have infected 12 of 24 elementary school students in a classroom that was ventilated with outside air and included an air filter, according to a report published by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

All students were masked, and the teacher was most of the time, although she removed her mask during story time. The teacher had symptoms for two days but had dismissed them as allergies — a common mistake that doctors treating COVID patients say underscored the need for frequent testing and self-isolation for those experiencing any symptoms. None of the students were sick enough to be hospitalized.

NOT CONTROVERSIAL?

While coronavirus mandates have proven to be a flashpoint of controversy in some places, that doesn't appear to be the case as much in St. Paul. The school board's march toward the policy has not been characterized by anti-mandate vitriol or demonstrations.

Earlier in the week, a senior member of the teachers union spoke in favor of the policy, although how it might interact with the various union contracts affecting district employees and contractors isn't clear.

A district-administered survey of employees conducted in late August found 55 percent of those surveyed supported the district-wide mandate, 37 percent did not support it, and 8 percent weren't sure. Of those who supported the mandate, the vast majority — 82 percent — supported solely a vaccinate mandate, while the remainder supported a mandate with an alternative, such as the testing alternative ultimately adopted. The survey was sent to nearly 7,000 workers, of whom more than 3,900 responded.

The official position of Education Minnesota, the state's largest teachers union, is friendly to such vaccine policies. The union supports local bargaining units working with school boards to raise the level of vaccination among educators and offers a sample policy.

Superintendent Joe Gotthard described the vaccine mandate as "one more tool" to try to protect students, staff and their families. "We have to be realistic in our approach ... but we also have an obligation to do everything we can to protect the community," he said Friday.

Before calling for the vote, school board Chair Jeanelle Foster reflected on the policy.

"I don't know that some folks really realize the burden when we make decisions that oftentimes may impede on others' personal beliefs," Foster said. "As a board we have to make a collective decision about the totality of things. ... We continue to listen and learn to allow us to move forward in the midst of this storm."

COST UNCLEAR

The cost of the mandate wasn't known Friday. Employees will be granted two hours paid time off to get vaccinated, and the entire following day, if needed. But some details, such as whether such time would be taken from sick days or some other pool, have yet to be determined.

Officials said they're considering offering testing for everyone, both to try to avoid drawing attention to those not vaccinated but also because its likely smart policy.

The three available vaccines are safe and the most effective way to reduce infections when people gather indoors, according to numerous studies and health agencies across the globe.

A recent study by a CDC-funded research lab concluded that the best way to reduce school outbreaks is a combination of high immunity — through vaccination or prior infection — universal masking, and regular testing.