Ashland School Board News
Inspiring Learning for Life
School Board News
10/22/2021
The Ashland School Board has received a volume of emails, questions, and input on the Board's consideration of local COVID vaccine requirements for voluntary high-risk activities and the Board process. We are grateful for the community engagement and interest in the issue, and support of our community's students and schools.
All of our Board members are parents of Ashland students and share the district's top priority to create a safe, healthy environment for students to learn and connect. The COVID safety measures implemented are all designed to achieve this goal.
The Ashland School Board has been discussing student vaccination. However, the board is NOT considering an all-student vaccine requirement at this time.
The State of Oregon is looking at adding a COVID vaccine requirement to the current school-age K-12 vaccine requirements once it is fully approved at school-age levels by the FDA. We will be looking toward the state's progress and leadership in this area.
The Ashland School Board is reviewing the issue of a local COVID vaccine requirement for high-risk, voluntary, extra-curricular activities, such as athletics and other after-school clubs and activities, due to the incidence of COVID cases, positive exposures, and necessary quarantines among those groups. If passed, this requirement would be only for students participating in those activities who are eligible for a vaccine under full FDA approval, and state exemptions would remain in place with any local requirement for students.
The Ashland School Board and district officials will continue to research, seek guidance where necessary (from public health officials and others), and deliberate carefully on the matter of requiring children in the district to be vaccinated against COVID.
We will continue to be responsive as well as proactive to the realities of COVID and this global pandemic. However, the process of making decisions in this area will not be done hastily.
Q and A
Q: Is the state considering adding a COVID vaccine requirement for students?
A: The state of Oregon is looking at adding a COVID vaccine requirement to the current school-age K12 vaccine requirements once it is fully approved for an age-level by the FDA. This would require a recommendation from Oregon's Immunization/School/Children's Facility/ College Law Advisory Committee (ISLAC), followed by Oregon Health Authority (OHA) conducting an administrative rule process that requires public feedback. No time frame has been given. The Governor has not ruled anything out yet as the COVID situation keeps changing.
Q: Can school districts require vaccines? Do state allowable exemptions apply?
A: While Oregon law does allow districts to exceed state requirements, state exemptions (medical and non-medical) would remain in place with any local requirement for students. Religious and philosophical reasons for opting not to vaccinate are valid "non-medical" exemptions for students under Oregon law.
Q: What requirement is the Ashland School Board and District reviewing?
A: The Board is reviewing the issue of a local COVID vaccine requirement for high-risk voluntary athletics and after-school clubs, but has not yet made any decisions.
Q: Why is the Ashland School Board reviewing a local athletics and high-risk activities vaccine requirement?
A: Because of our local active cases, exposures, and quarantines among students and staff participating in athletics, the Ashland School Board is reviewing the issue with these activities for participating students who are eligible for the vaccine under full FDA approval. Staff who interact with students are already vaccinated.
Recent significant outbreaks among our Ashland athletes have resulted in significant loss of school for unvaccinated players and other students placed in quarantine due to exposure.
Each active case can result in numerous exposures and quarantines for unvaccinated students. The health department currently requires a 14-day quarantine in unvaccinated individuals - this has resulted in substantial loss of classroom time for some students.
It remains a possibility that schools would need to consider distance learning in the event of a large outbreak and we know quarantines lead to a great deal of instructional loss, despite the best efforts of families, students, and teachers.
Q: Are other school districts considering local vaccine requirements?
A: Corvallis, Beaverton, Bethel, and Portland are also reviewing the issue, most with a focus on athletics and after-school activities because of the number of cases and quarantines. Any requirement would likely be for students in voluntary athletics/activities who are eligible for the vaccine at ages where it is fully approved by the FDA. Currently, that is 16 and up.
Q: Where can I locate current active case rates in the schools?
A: At the bottom of the District's COVID page, we update district-wide cases weekly. https://www.ashland.k12.or.us/page/coronavirus-covid-19-response