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Sonora, CA — There may be fewer students in the classroom today.
A statewide protest is planned by many who oppose things like vaccine mandates for students, and increased testing for staff and students.
The idea has been circulating on social media, statewide. It is calling for students to stay home for one day. California initially put in place vaccine directives for employees of schools and later there are plans for vaccine mandates for students once they receive full federal approval. Click here to view an earlier story.
Many schools have put out letters to parents ahead of the potential protest. For example, Summerville High School Superintendent Michael Merrill put out a statement reading, “We understand that families and students may have strong emotions and questions about COVID-19 safety measures, including vaccine and testing requirements. However, keeping children home from school to protest a COVID-19 vaccine requirement announced by Gov. Gavin Newsom, as posts on some social media outlets are suggesting, would only result in lost learning time for our students.”
It goes on to state, “Summerville Union High School District has no control over the proposed mandate, which would treat the COVID-19 vaccine similarly to the 10 vaccines on the list already required by California law for students attending K-12 schools.”
The Mariposa County School Superintendent, Jeff Aranguena, has also put out a letter noting that there are strong emotions about COVID safety measures, but he argues that attending school has a major positive impact on student success, and encourages everyone to attend classes today.
Many other schools are putting out similar letters to parents.