Nearly 500 Los Angeles school district workers have lost their jobs for failing to comply with the COVID-19 vaccination requirement, authorities announced Tuesday.
The number represents less than 1% of approximately 73,000 employees, a compliance rate that the school system characterizes as a success. The total number of laid off workers is much lower than previously feared. Seven of the fired employees had teaching credentials, although officials did not indicate whether any of them were classroom teachers.
“We care deeply about all of our employees,” said Acting Superintendent Megan K. Reilly. “Firing people who choose not to inoculate is an extremely difficult decision, but a necessary one to ensure the safety of everyone in our school communities. We wish them the best in their future endeavors and encourage everyone to get vaccinated. ”
As of October 18, when the mandate took effect, 2,214 district employees had not applied for or received an exemption. At the time, about 1,500 people had an exemption: 175 for a serious medical condition or disability and 1,325 for a “sincere religious belief.” Workers who do not comply with this provision would receive payment until October 31.
An unknown number of employees remain in limbo as their waiver requests continue to be evaluated. Some administrators are also trying to find non-inoculated worker positions that don’t require them to be on campus or interact with students or other employees. For some job positions, such as teaching assistants, cafeteria workers, and construction and land employees, remote mode is impossible.
Other workers have resorted to sick leave and vacations, or sought unpaid leave, trying to wait for the inoculation requirement to be met.
But district leaders have shown no inclination to back down.
“The science is clear: Vaccines are safe, as well as effective, and are an essential part of multi-layered protection against COVID-19,” the district said in a statement. “They help reduce the chances of getting seriously ill and dying from the virus. The Los Angeles Unified School District continues to provide access to antigens for employees and all eligible students. “
The layoffs come at a time when the district is struggling to find enough qualified workers to fill positions at all levels. That’s one of the reasons the district left the door open while trying to fill more than 1,000 vacancies.
“If laid off employees are vaccinated, they may be eligible to resume their jobs,” officials noted in the district statement.
Classroom teachers, an especially urgent need, have been able to receive positions with accommodations for the most part, especially since there were openings for most of them at City of Angels, the district’s independent study program.
City of Angels has enrolled students who are not ready or unable to return to classes in person. This program has struggled with an unstable and insufficient teaching staff. More than 500 of the unvaccinated teachers were transferred to City of Angels to supervise the 16,000 currently enrolled students.
More teachers are likely to be needed for City of Angels.
Approximately 34,000 students have yet to meet the district’s COVID-19 inoculation mandate for students 12 years of age and older, and there is no longer enough time for those who have not received their first vaccination to become fully inoculated by the start. of the second semester on January 10.
The large numbers of students who will not be able to meet the full immunization deadline will likely force the leaders of the second-largest school system in the United States to make tough decisions, which has implemented one of the strictest inoculation mandates in the country. . Students who are not fully vaccinated, or who are not exempt, will be forced to study independently or will have to leave the public school system.
The Los Angeles Unified School District was one of the first school systems in the country to require that employees be inoculated. The October 15 deadline caused a surge in thousands of doubters. There is also a pending lawsuit challenging the mandate.
The 496 district employees who have been laid off do not include those who work in charter schools licensed by the Los Angeles Unified School District, where the vaccination mandate must also be followed. Teachers at these schools did not have an immediate opportunity to transfer to the City of Angels program.
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