School districts unsure whether staff vaccines will be required

DAVENPORT – According to the state’s vaccination plan, teachers will be eligible to receive a COVID-19 inoculation soon. However, local school districts don’t know whether the state will make receiving the vaccine a requirement, similar to MMR vaccination requirements presently in place.

Davenport superintendent Jim Kowalkowski said that his staff hasn’t discussed any required vaccine dosage for teachers and staff. He guessed that eventually, the vaccine will be mandated by the state for educators, unless they have a medical exemption. Or, he said, if there was a COVID-19 outbreak in the school, the unvaccinated staff wouldn’t be able to come to work.

He noted that the lack of an approved vaccine for children could complicate that matter at first. The Pfizer/Biotech vaccine is approved for ages 16 and up, and the Moderna vaccine, which is the only vaccine currently available in Lincoln County, is for ages 18 and up.

Reardan superintendent Eric Sobotta shared a similar sentiment, saying the district has not spoken about whether it will require the vaccination, but could see a situation where it’s required at the state level.

He added that he surveyed staff six weeks ago to see who wanted to receive the vaccine. About 30 of the roughly 100 staff said yes at the time, but Sobotta said he thinks that number would be higher now, with COVID-19 vaccines now FDA-approved.

Harrington superintendent Wayne Massie simply said, “we are not at that point yet,” when asked about whether the district will require staff COVID-19 vaccinations.