Supporting continued vaccination requirements for school staff - statement to MMSD Board of Education
In the ongoing outbreak, vaccinations protect our educators and school staff
Our Madison Metro School Board will vote on a proposal to end the COVID vaccine requirement for its staff at the April 24, 2023 Board of Education Meeting on Monday night. Please express your view to the Board. Below is a letter submitted on behalf of the UW Workers’ COVID Response Working Group.
We encourage you to register to OPPOSE 8.1 on the agenda. The best way is to submit a written statement through the portal, which remains open until 3pm on Monday, 4/24/2023. Directions are here:
https://www.madison.k12.wi.us/about/board-of-education/board-of-education-virtual-meetings
You may also submit comments to the school board via email: board@madison.k12.wi.us
Dear Board of Education,
We are in full support of the unions’ demands including AFSCME’s petition (managerial accountability, $5 per hour wage increase across the board, reverse administrative bloat, ensure budgetary transparency, and defend democracy by ensuring a balance of power among the Board, administrators, and union workers)[1], and the campaign for “Schools Madison’s Students Deserve”[2] including Student Centered Staffing, Respect for Staff's Time, and Fair Pay.
We also oppose ending the staff COVID vaccine requirement. Our teachers not only deserve what is being fought for above, but also the right to a safe and healthy workplace. COVID is still a serious disease that can cause death or disability, especially in the unvaccinated. Educators and school staff are role models and schools are exemplars for science-based approaches in our communities. MMSD has shown leadership in its COVID vaccine requirement, and we urge the school board to continue to maintain this requirement.
Please vote to maintain the COVID vaccine requirement for MMSD staff. Here are some reasons why:
COVID is still spreading. The vaccine prevents illness, long COVID, hospitalizations and the risk of death. This is an important workplace safety issue.
The COVID vaccine (coupled with bivalent boosters) promotes base level protection in case other COVID Omicron subvariants emerge that could be more infectious or virulent.
Having a vaccine requirement sets a standard for workplace health and safety and paves the way for future efforts to make vaccines more available within the school, or lower cost.
Disability injustice and racial disparities in healthcare are exacerbated by uncontrolled disease. We would like to be proactive to make our school community more equitable.
Vaccination reduces the pressure on our healthcare system & workers.
To enhance vaccine access, MMSD should make vaccines conveniently available for all staff and allow time off to get vaccinated and recover from side effects.
Vaccination forms an important part of a multi-layered comprehensive approach to reducing the harmful impacts of COVID in schools and communities and should be supported by additional measures (access to clean air and indoor air quality surveillance as in Boston schools[3], high-quality masks, and testing, among other measures). Too often recently, policy makers have been denying the presence of COVID and disregarding the ongoing harmful impact in our community as well as our capability to prevent this disease and the illness it causes. We hope MMSD will maintain effective public health approaches such as workplace vaccine requirements, and we encourage all school staff to get up-to-date on vaccinations, including the bivalent boosters.
Sincerely,
Barbara Smith
Karl Broman
Kaitlin Sundling, MD, PhD
Fiona Abbott
Susan Nossal
Harry Richardson
of the informal UW Workers’ COVID Working Group
E-mail: uwcovidworkersgroup@gmail.com
1. https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/support-our-staff
2. https://chng.it/w2yHxjJLkB
3. https://www.bostonpublicschools.org/Page/8435