Schools
Coronavirus Vaccine Mandate On Hold For Edina School Staff
A district policy requiring all employees to be fully vaccinated or take weekly coronavirus tests was due to take effect Monday, Nov. 15.
EDINA, MN — The Edina Public Schools board has temporarily suspended its policy requiring all staff members to be vaccinated against the coronavirus or agree to weekly testing.
The board instituted the mandate at its Sept. 28 meeting, but passed a resolution last week to delay its start. The policy was due to take effect Monday, Nov. 15.
The mandate required all current employees to provide proof of full vaccination against the coronavirus or submit negative test results at least once a week. The requirements were also due to extend to contracted vendors who have direct contact with students.
Find out what's happening in Edinafor free with the latest updates from Patch.
Rollover Crash On Icy Road Injures 3 In Edina: Police
Board members voted Nov. 8 to postpone the start of the vaccine mandate so they can sort through “conflicting information” from state and federal officials, school board chair Erica Allenburg said, adding the board wants “to make sure that we have the correct information” before enacting the policy.
Find out what's happening in Edinafor free with the latest updates from Patch.
The vote to postpone was spurred by an emergency temporary standard from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration that requires organizations and businesses with at least 100 employees to mandate vaccination against the coronavirus or regular testing.
OSHA implemented the temporary standard on Nov. 4, but a federal court soon after blocked the standard from taking effect. The OHSA regulation would start in January if it withstands legal challenges, Superintendent Stacie Stanley said.
Edina Girls Cross-Country Team Wins State Championship
A union representative for Edina Public Schools custodians told the board that its plan to mandate vaccines or regular testing is “ridiculous” and said some custodians are not getting “proper information” about vaccines because they don’t speak English well.
“We’re not happy that we have to be tested every week, the people that are not vaccinated,” Patricia Martinez said during a public-comment period.
“We’re not going to get vaccinated,” she said as she walked away from the microphone.
Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.
