WA Superintendent Proposes Vaccine Order For School Staff

OLYMPIA, WA — Washington's Superintendent of Public Instruction is officially asking Gov. Jay Inslee to issue a new executive order requiring school teachers and staff members to take the COVID-19 vaccine.

Currently, Washington is not requiring teachers or staff at public schools to take the COVID-19 vaccine, but it has mandated that all schools must offer full-time, in person instruction for the coming fall semester.

In a letter sent to the governor Thursday, Superintendent Chris Reykdal says ordering school staff members to take the vaccine may be the only way to protect student health when they return for in-person classes.

"With the continued increase in cases of COVID-19 across our state due to the highly contagious Delta variant, students losing precious time learning in-person with their educators and peers because of quarantine or, potentially, school building closures is a real threat," writes Reykdal. "Especially after a year and a half of remote and hybrid learning, a continuity of in-person instruction will be more important this year than ever."

Reykdal specifically cites the governor's recent decision ordering state employees and health workers to vaccine. That order requires that state workers, state contractors, and workers in private health care and long term care settings be fully vaccinated by Oct. 18, or else lose their jobs.

"Consistent with your order requiring the vaccine for state employees and licensed healthcare providers, should you choose to issue an order related to school employees, I encourage you to include the fact that any school employee who chooses not to receive their vaccination by the specified date will be subject to non-disciplinary dismissal from employment," wrote Reykdal. "I also encourage exemptions for school employees out of medical and religious necessity, consistent with your August 9 order."

That Aug. 9 order allows for exemptions for "legitimate medical reasons or sincerely held religious beliefs", but those asking to be exempt will have to apply for it.

Following in Inslee's footsteps, some government agencies like King County, the City of Seattle, and State Auditor's Office have also issued vaccine requirements.

As might be expected, vaccine mandates have been met with some pushback, though requiring that teachers vaccinate could prove less difficult than other demographics: Both the Seattle Education Association teachers union and the Washington Education Association have said they will support a vaccine mandate in the interest of greater public safety, the Seattle Times reported.

Outside of mandatory vaccination, Washington schools do have a few other tools to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Students, teachers and other staff will all be required to wear facial coverings indoors while on school grounds regardless of vaccination status, and teachers will have to give students at least three feet of space for social distancing.

Schools that fail to enforce mask use and social distancing may end up with their funding revoked.

If Inslee follows through on Reykdal's suggestion, Washington will be one of very few states to mandate vaccination for teachers, though not the first: on Wednesday, California Gov. Gavin Newsom issued a public health order requiring public school staff to either present proof of full vaccination or submit to weekly COVID-19 testing.

“To give parents confidence that their children are safe as schools return to full, in-person learning, we are urging all school staff to get vaccinated. Vaccinations are how we will end this pandemic,” Newsom said.