In response to requests from school board trustees around the state asking for support in explaining the state’s vaccine mandate for students, CSBA has prepared talking points for board members to explain and discuss the issue to their communities.
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- There are parents, students, and staff on both sides of the vaccine mandate issue. No solution to the question of COVID vaccines and schools will please all constituents.
- Since there is no solution to the vaccine question that will please all stakeholders, it is necessary to consider two questions:
- What course of action provides the greatest good for the great number?
- What course of action, based on professional expertise, best supports the health and safety of students, staff, and families?
- There is a consensus among medical and public health experts that vaccinations increase the health and safety of public schools. This position is backed by data and science.
- Providing for the health and safety of students is one of our highest priorities and a precondition for academic learning and social development, so the vaccine mandate supports our work toward the larger goals of public education.
- The relationship between vaccines and health and safety in schools is already established. This is nothing new. Currently, 10 vaccines are required for enrollment in California schools and this process is governed by a 2015 statute (SB 277).
- This is not overreach by the state or an unprecedented infringement on local control. This is a case of the state using preexisting authority that was provided by the legislature to protect the health and safety of students.
- The mandate is conditioned on full federal approval for each age group and will likely take effect July 1, 2022, meaning its primary impact will be for the 2022–23 school year.
- Establishing a universal standard for the 2022–23 school year will eliminate much of the confusion around the patchwork of different approaches to vaccination.
- The mandate also has the potential to remove local school trustees from the role you’ve been thrust into as de facto public health officials and to redirect vaccine debates to the state level so you can focus on issues that are more squarely
