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Date: 9/15/2021
SOUTHAMPTON – Hampshire Regional Superintendent Diana Bonneville presented a draft to the William E. Norris School Committee of possible protocol during their Sept. 8 meeting that could require all school employees to be fully vaccinated.
If it were to come into fruition, the mandate would specifically require full vaccination from all employees, independent contractors, consultant substitutes and volunteers that would be within school grounds on a regular basis. The committee was not asked to vote on it quite yet, just to give some feedback.
“This is really to minimize the risk that individuals propose a direct threat for our students,” said Bonneville. “This would require all employees to provide documentation that they’ve been vaccinated.”
These entities would also have to sign a liability waiver form indicating that they would not hold the school district liable if they experience side effects from whichever COVID-19 vaccine they choose to receive.
If employees, independent contractors, and consultant substitutes are not able to receive the vaccine – or choose not to – then those people would be required to provide documentation on a weekly basis with a Polymerase Chain Reaction test. If an employee fails to get a vaccine or test weekly, then it could result in possible discipline up to termination.
According to Bonneville, the Massachusetts Teachers Association (MTA) has advocated for some type of vaccination policy in schools. The draft was conceived by the school’s attorneys, and those attorneys represent three school districts in the state that use a similar policy to the one that was presented during the committee meeting. If the Norris committee and Southampton Teachers Association (STA) does not approve this, then the draft mandate cannot move forward.
“Various School Committee members and various districts within Hampshire Regional have asked about the vaccination policy back in July and August,” said Bonneville, explaining why she wanted to bring this forward. As of press time, the Norris school has a 94 percent vaccination rate.
The superintendent added that she sometimes receives the occasional phone call from parents wondering if their child’s teacher is vaccinated, but the district cannot legally disclose this information. Norris Committee Chair Jon Lumbra noted that employees have not been asked to provide a certificate proving their vaccination, therefore the vaccination rate the school is relying on is based on voluntary information.
The chair member said that he is not comfortable mandating something of this nature until the STA provides their opinion on this. If, according to Lumbra, the association is 100 percent in on the mandate, then the School Committee would most likely not have a reason to not pass the mandate.
“I am in full support in having this policy in place,” said committee member Julianne Tauscher. “I think working with a population that’s unvaccinated children…I think we should ensure that the staff protects the kids as best they can by being vaccinated.”
Committee member Allison Radon said that she felt “iffy” on the matter but specified that she is vaccinated and is in full support of people getting vaccines. “I don’t feel that, in a school, it needs to be made mandatory quite yet,” she said. “I’m for it, but I’m not. I’m very on the fence about this one.”
Bonneville plans on presenting this draft to the rest of the school committees in the district, and once the STA provides their feedback on the situation, the School Committee will conduct an executive session to discuss how to proceed on the matter. Members of the committee also asked that some language be changed for clarity.