About 97% of Los Angeles teachers and administrators have met the school district’s Friday deadline to get vaccinated against COVID-19, according to information released by the district.
The antigen requirement applies to all Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) employees, about 73,000, as well as parent volunteers and district contractors working on campus. Employees of district-authorized charter schools must also follow this provision.
The district’s information comes after a Thursday night statement from United Teachers Los Angeles, which indicated that about 95% of its members, at that time, met the requirement. The union represents nurses, counselors and librarians, as well as teachers.
The district did not include numbers for all employees. Vaccination rates have been lower for lower-paid and non-teaching workers.
It is unclear how many of the remaining 3% of the teachers’ union members, representing around 1,000 school employees, have received exemptions for medical or religious reasons. Anyone without at least one dose of the antigen will be banned from campus this Monday, potentially disrupting the continuity of classroom education in the nation’s second-largest school system.
The figures represent substantial progress since the end of September, when approximately 1 in 5 district employees had not submitted inoculation documentation.
“As we anticipate, our number of vaccinated staff is constantly increasing,” School Board President Kelly Gonez stressed Friday morning. “We continue to encourage all employees to get inoculated this week. I am confident that the flexibilities we have established for those who receive their first dose by October 15 will protect our employees who are making a total effort to immunize themselves, while minimizing the impact on schools and services. “
He added: “The antigen mandate is a priority for the entire system and, as a board member, I have been requesting and receiving regular updates on our progress.”
Since late September, and through Friday morning, the school system had refused to provide updated information on employee vaccination rates. The district also has not released information on how many workers had applied for or received a religious or medical exemption.
In an internal communication, the union instructed its unvaccinated members not to assume they could transfer to the City of Angels program, largely online, and work that way.
“Non-exempt employees who do not receive at least one dose by October 15 will not be able to teach in the City of Angels online program,” the message stated. “Only members who receive waivers, along with school site volunteers / transfers who are inoculated, can be assigned to the City of Angels program.”
The union emphasized the importance of moving forward by submitting your documentation or getting a first injection.
“If you have been vaccinated but have not yet provided proof to LAUSD, we recommend that you do so as soon as possible,” the union stated. “Employees who fail to provide proof of at least one dose of the vaccine will not be allowed into any LAUSD school or workplace after October 15 and will be subject to termination unless they have received a medical or religious exemption.”
The union did not respond to a request for additional comment. United Teachers Los Angeles represents more than 30,000 teachers, nurses, counselors and librarians.
The teachers union has endorsed mandatory vaccinations for both employees and students and, during the previous school year, the union opposed calls to reopen the campuses until all members had a chance to be fully inoculated.
District officials accepted this condition, and as a result, campuses did not reopen until mid-April, later than in some other school systems.
The vast majority of teachers were promptly vaccinated when available, but a sizable minority resisted.
Doubts about inoculation have been consistently highest among members of the district’s other large union: Service Employees International Union Local 99, which represents some 28,000 non-teaching workers, including a large number of low-wage employees.
The original deadline for employees to be fully vaccinated was Friday. This week, however, Acting Superintendent Megan K. Reilly extended the deadline. But employees had yet to receive a first injection, of any antigen authorized by the US Food and Drug Administration, before the original deadline, and full vaccination is required by November 15.
Local 99 pushed for the extension in contract negotiations. The union estimated that about 80% of its members in the Los Angeles Unified School District “have an inoculation record” for at least one dose, spokeswoman Blanca Gallegos said. By the end of Thursday, that number had risen to 83%.
“However, we have heard from many members that there are still problems with the burden of vaccination evidence in the district system, so we expect the numbers to increase once those mishaps are resolved,” Gallegos explained.
Members of Local 99 include food service workers, custodians, bus drivers, and special education assistants.
A third union, California School Employees Association Local 500, reported an inoculation rate of 93.1% on Friday morning.
That union represents about 3,700 office workers, campus financial managers, library assistants and other support staff.
The school district was providing vaccination clinics through Friday at 3:30 pm and allowed employees to take time off from work to receive the injections. Locations include: Irvine Middle School, Roosevelt High School, Sutter Middle School, Markham Middle School, Bancroft Middle School, and Webster Middle School.
Los Angeles Unified School District students age 12 and older have a different schedule, but must also be inoculated in the coming weeks. A parent has filed a lawsuit about that requirement.
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