- Elizabeth Larson
- Posted On
Konocti Unified School Board approves resolution asking state not to require COVID-19 vaccinations for staff, students
The board met before an audience of about 60 people, including many parents who had come to speak on the topic and urged board members to take the action.
The resolution calls for state officials to recommend and not require the COVID-19
vaccine for students and staff.
It is in response to Gov. Gavin Newsom’s announcement this fall that the COVID-19 vaccine would be added to the list of vaccinations required for students to have in order to attend school in-person, and that the “verify-or-test” requirement for school staff will be converted to a vaccine mandate.
On Wednesday night, the Lucerne Elementary Board of Trustees was scheduled to consider a similar resolution. Lake County News was unable to confirm the action that board took on Wednesday night by the time of publication.
Lakeport Unified’s board will discuss its own resolution asking the state not to require vaccinations at its Thursday night meeting.
The resolutions for the three districts have wording that is almost completely identical, with small differences, specifically, Konocti Unified’s resolution noted that about 30% of its employees are unvaccinated, while 36% of Lucerne’s employees are not vaccinated. Lakeport’s resolution did not give a number.
Kelseyville Unified and Middletown Unified have meetings coming up and those districts so far have not confirmed if they will take similar actions. Upper Lake Unified does not have a similar resolution on its meeting agenda next week.
Konocti Unified Superintendent Dr. Becky Salato told Lake County News that the county is very collaborative, with the six school superintendents working well together.
“We all talked about it,” she said of the resolution.
She said Konocti Unified’s resolution will be sent to the California Department of Public Health.
The vote on the resolution followed a public comment portion of the meeting where several parents, most not wearing masks in the crowded boardroom audience, spoke against the COVID-19 vaccine, questioning its safety as well as the efficacy of masks, complaining of government overreach and wanting to push back on the health emergency resulting from the pandemic.
One parent said he would pull his children out of school if the mandate goes through, and he and others said neither they nor their children would be vaccinated against COVID-19.
The board itself did not discuss the resolution before taking the vote. Student Trustee Isaac Huffman moved to approve the resolution, and Mary Silva, attending via Zoom, seconded.
The vote was 5-2 to approve the resolution, with Huffman, Silva, Board President Bill Diener, Clerk Joan Mingori and Student Trustee Amethyst McCoy voting yes, and Zabdy Neria and Pamela Bening-Hale voting no.
During board member reports at the end of the meeting, Neria said they have had to make hard decisions, and she heard everybody who spoke at the meeting on various topics, including the matters relating to COVID-19.
Bening-Hale, a retired Konocti Unified teacher, said she was glad people came to speak to them.
“It really is a hard decision,” she said. “I’ve lost people to COVID.”
As a result of her experience, Bening-Hale said it was hard for her to say the resolution was OK. “I do respect people’s opinion but that’s just my experience.”
Also on Wednesday, the board held its annual reorganization, selecting its leadership for 2022.
The board elected Mingori as president and Bening-Hale as clerk, and approved Salato’s designated role as secretary to the board.
Board members also approved their meeting calendar for 2022. The board will continue meeting regularly on the second and fourth Wednesdays of the month in the Carol McClung Conference Center at the district office, located at 9430-B Lake St. in Lower Lake.
Editor’s note: The story has been updated to show that Upper Lake Unified has not announced plans to take action on a similar resolution.
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120821 KoUSD Resolution on COVID Mandate by LakeCoNews on Scribd