West Chester School Board Urges Officials To Vaccinate Teachers

WEST CHESTER, PA — If COVID-19 metrics keep improving West Chester students will be able to return to classrooms five days a week by March 22, but the WCASD board is urging elected officials to get teachers vaccinated before then.

The West Chester Area School District on Tuesday approved a phased-in return to five-day a week, in-person instruction for all students who would like to participate, and on Wednesday the school board sent a letter pressing elected officials to do what they can to get teachers vaccinated by March 15.

West Chester Area School Board on Feb. 22 responded to Chester County Health Department guidance updates that reduce social distancing to 3 feet. If COVID-19 metrics continue to improve, in-person instruction five days a week could begin by March 22, the district said.

The new guidance still recommends 6 feet of distance in schools but notes 6 feet is "recommended to the greatest extent possible," and "at no time is less than 3 feet permitted."

Those recommendations apply when COVID-19 metrics are under certain levels. Chester County's incidence rate is very close to the line that puts it below the high transmission mark, and the county is solidly in the moderate transmission level for positivity rate.

But the board of directors for WCASD took additional action the day after the decision was made to move toward opening schools to five days of in-person instruction. The board yesterday addressed elected officials with an urgent request to get teachers vaccinated before they return to school in closer classroom conditions.

"We write to urge you to advocate vigorously on behalf of getting our teachers and staff
vaccinated as soon as possible. This is a pressing concern for our District. As you know, the
Chester County Health Department recently revised its guidance to allow for in-classroom
instruction with three feet of distance. In response, on February 22, we voted to offer full-time, in-person instruction to all students and families who want it. As is true in most Chester
County districts, opinions vary regarding whether this is the right decision. However, the
WCASD School Board is united in our desire to ensure that our teachers and staff are safe
as they head back into full classrooms and schools," the board wrote in its letter.

The letter pointed out that there is time before students return March 22 to get teachers and staff vaccinated.

"The CCHD’s guidance indicates that transmission rates must be below 100 per 100,000 for
three consecutive weeks to allow for full-time in-person instruction at 3 feet of distance.
Presuming that the statistics posted by CCHD this Friday indicate rates below 100 and
remain there, the earliest our District could return to full-week, in-person instruction would be
March 15. This gives us a critical 19-day window during which our teachers and staff
can be vaccinated," the board stated in its letter.

The board acknowledged the problem of vaccine supply, but also said that "unlike 22 states, Pennsylvania has not prioritized vaccinating its teachers and school staff. Pennsylvania ranks 44th in percent of vaccines distributed, so even the vaccines we do receive are taking too long to be administered. We are far from vaccinating all who are designated as 1a, and most teachers and staff are designated 1b. Even within the 1b category, teachers receive no special priority."

"We can, and we should, move our teachers up in the vaccine queue," the board's letter to elected officials said.

The letter continued, "As our elected officials, you have the power to speak directly to members of the Wolf administration to advocate for rapid vaccination of our teachers and school staff. We respectfully ask that you relay our urgent request to the administration to get our teachers and staff—a total of 1,488 individuals — fully vaccinated by March 15."

WCASD Superintendent Dr. Jim Scanlon underscored that "the administration has been communicating regularly with legislators to urge them to work to provide vaccinations for school staff."

He also explained how the move into in-person instruction would work. He said the move to in-person instruction will be dependent on COVID-19 transmission rates reaching low enough thresholds for the next three weeks.

"We anticipate having all students who want to be back to daily in-person instruction back in our schools no later than March 22, again assuming the transmission rates have reached a low enough threshold for three consecutive weeks," Scanlon said.

The full presentation from the Feb. 22 meeting on WASCD's "Path Back to Five Day a Week In-person instruction" can be viewed here. Below is a page from the presentation showing how the most recent COVID metrics stand alongside the health department's guidance.

"We are very eager to see more students back in our schools. Thank you for your support and positivity as we continue to work through this very challenging school year," the superintendent told parents. Scanlon's full memo to parents can be read here.

The push to vaccinate teachers is not limited to West Chester. A petition has circulated this week on change.org asking that teachers be given COVID-19 vaccines "NOW." The petition has received more than 8,000 of the 10,000 signatures it has aimed for.

A national poll, not specific to Pennsylvania, released Feb. 17 by Morning Consult found that 55 percent of voters said states should wait to reopen schools until teachers have received the vaccine, while 34 percent said schools should be reopened as soon as possible, even if not every teacher has been vaccinated. Morning Consult describes itself as a data intelligence firm.

Read a story about Chester County Health Department updated guidance here.

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