Northern California student attendance returns to normal after COVID-19 vaccine mandate walkout

Nada Atieh
Redding Record Searchlight
Sign on rear window of car parked at the Freedom Friday rally in Redding on Friday, Oct. 15, 2021. Gov. Gavin Newsom is requiring that all California school employees be vaccinated for COVID-19 or be tested weekly as of Oct. 15, 2021, prompting a backlash among some teachers and school staff members.

Attendance returned to normal at Northern California schools after administrators saw higher than normal student absences tied to a walkout opposing state requirements that teachers and students get vaccinated against COVID-19.

District superintendents said both staff and students were missing at a higher rate on Monday, although staff absences were manageable.

  • More than 900 of Anderson Union High School District’s 1,683 students missed school on Monday, Superintendent Victor Hopper said.
  • About 40% of Shasta Union High School District’s nearly 1,600 students were absent, Superintendent Jim Cloney said.
  • Enterprise Elementary School District administrators saw about 45% of the approximately 3,600 students absent on Monday, Superintendent Heather Armelino said. 
  • About 38% of Willow Creek Elementary School District's 39 students were absent on Monday, administrator Alyssa Ladd said. 
  • About 40% of the 600 students attending Scott Valley Unified School District were absent, Superintendent Micheline Miglis said. 
  • About 20% of Siskiyou Union High School District's 540 students were absent on Monday, Superintendent Mike Matheson said. 

Miglis acknowledged she was was nervous about the walkout but said teachers were respectful and didn’t bring up the protest on school grounds.

“I didn’t know what this was going to look like and how it would affect the classroom,” she said. “I did hear from quite a number of parents and I appreciated those conversations.”

Since Monday, staff and students have returned to school and there have been no complications, she said.

Only a handful of teachers were absent at the schools.

And as of Thursday, COVID-19 testing and vaccination at Shasta Union, the largest school district in Shasta County, showed a strong response. About 97% of the staff have been compliant with vaccinations and testing, Cloney said. It was unclear what percentage of that figure refers to the staff who is fully vaccinated.

  • Eighteen of AUHSD’s 189 staff members were absent, slightly more than the usual 15 who are absent on any given day, Hopper said.
  • Fifteen of SUHSD's 450 member staff was absent. Half of them have returned since then.
  • Five percent of Enterprise's staff was out out on a "personal day," Armelino said. 
  •  No teachers were absent at Willow Creek Elementary School District,  Ladd said. 
  • Close to 5% of teachers were absent at SVUSD but most of their absences were prearranged medical or personal absences. 
  • No teachers were absent at the Siskiyou district on Monday, Matheson said. 

Administrators at Redding, Cascade Union, Gateway Unified, and Black Butte Elementary school districts did not respond to a Record Searchlight reporter's requests on student absences in time for publication. 

On Aug. 11, Gov. Gavin Newsom said that by Oct. 15, all school employees would either need to be verified as vaccinated or participate in weekly testing. 

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On Oct. 1, the governor announced his intention to require students to vaccinate to go to school in person, once the vaccine is fully approved for their age groups.

Teachers and health care workers, parents and students participated in numerous demonstrations. 

Nada Atieh is a Report For America corps member and education reporter focusing on childhood trauma and the achievement gap for the Redding Record Searchlight. Follow her on Twitter at @nadatieh_RS. Help local journalism thrive by subscribing today! And if you are able, please consider a tax-deductible gift toward her work.