Parents speak out about vaccine mandate at Red Bluff Joint Union High School District board meeting

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RED BLUFF —  A group of residents and parents attended the Red Bluff Joint Union High School District board meeting Wednesday night to express concerns they have regarding the state’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate for students and teachers.

Before before opening public comment, Superintendent Todd Brose took a minute to recap where the school district and state are at the moment with the mandate.

“What we do know is that the California Department of Public Health was directed to add the COVID-19 vaccine to the list of current vaccinations that are required for in-person school attendance,” Brose said. “Currently, we have a number of vaccines and immunizations that are required by law that was passed in 2016.”

The requirement will be phased in by grade span of pre-kindergarten to 6th grade and 7-12 grades for all private, elementary and secondary school students. Before that can happen, the Food and Drug Administration will have to approve a vaccine for younger school-age groups.

Looking forward, Brose said there are two lawsuits challenging the local vaccine requirement.

The Department of Public Health still needs to draft the regulations that will address the necessary details of the provision, such as exemptions. Any changes to the personal belief exemption will be up to the California Legislature.

Brose said the soonest this requirement could go into effect would be during the 2022-23 school year.

Roughly 20 parents attended the meeting. Fewer than 10 spoke during public comment and all said they have had some connection to the high school.

The biggest issue raised was not with the school board, and speakers complimented the board’s work, but the state mandating the COVID-19 vaccine and putting the district in this position.

Some said they still feel unsafe receiving a vaccine after doing their own research, while stressing they were not anti-vaccine. Others cited Monday’s walkout protest as an example of the community’s resistance to the mandate.

One man said he was considering taking his family out of state because of the vaccine mandate and worried about the effects that would have on his daughter.

Each speaker was a allotted three minutes to speak.

When the public comment period ended, the board thanked those who attended and suggested they write to Assemblyman James Gallagher, so the legislature knows how they feel about the issue.

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