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Home My WebLink About12.21.2021 Board Correspondence - FW_ Message from Butte County Schools Leadership From:Paulsen, Shaina To:BOS Cc:York, Danette; Nuzum, Danielle Subject:Board Correspondence - FW: Message from Butte County Schools Leadership Date:Tuesday, December 21, 2021 4:16:44 PM Attachments:Final Butte County Superintendents Letter to the Governor 12.21.21.pdf Please see Board Correspondence from the Butte County Office of Education. Shaina Paulsen Associate Clerk of The Board Butte County Administration 25 County Center Drive, Suite 200, Oroville, CA 95965 T: 530.552.3304 | F: 530.538.7120 From: Ann Bates <abates@bcoe.org> Sent: Tuesday, December 21, 2021 4:12 PM To: governor@governor.ca.gov; gavin.newsom@gov.ca.gov Cc: senator.atkins@senate.ca.gov; Clerk of the Board <clerkoftheboard@buttecounty.net>; nick.hardeman@sen.ca.gov; assemblymember.gallagher@assembly.ca.gov; assemblymember.dahle@assembly.ca.gov; Senator.Nielsen@senate.ca.gov; assemblymember.rendon@assembly.ca.gov; tomas.aragon@cdph.ca.gov; York, Danette <DYork@buttecounty.net>; Mary Sakuma <msakuma@bcoe.org> Subject: Message from Butte County Schools Leadership ATTENTION: This message originated from outside Butte County. Please exercise judgment before opening .. attachments, clicking on links, or replying. To The Honorable Governor Newsom, The attached letter is being sent on behalf of the Butte County Superintendent of Schools, Mary Sakuma and the Butte County School District Superintendents. We have come together to voice our concerns regarding COVID-19 vaccine mandates and guidance. Thank you for your time and attention to this matter. Emailed on behalf of: Mary von Rotz Sakuma Butte County Superintendent of Schools Butte County Office of Education 1859 Bird Street Oroville, CA 95965 (530) 532-5761 By: Ann Bates Senior Executive Assistant Butte County Office of Education 1859 Bird Street Oroville, CA 95965 (530) 532-5761 CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE: This communication and any documents, files or previous e-mail messages attached to it, constitute an electronic communication within the scope of the Electronic Communication Privacy Act, 18 USCA 2510. This communication may contain non-public, confidential, or legally privileged information intended for the sole use of the designated recipient(s). The unlawful interception, use or disclosure of such information is strictly prohibited. If you are not the intended recipient, or have received this communication in error, please notify the sender immediately by reply email or by telephone and delete all copies of this communication, including attachments, without reading, forwarding or saving them electronically. December 21, 2021 Governor Gavin Newsom California Governor's Office 1303 10th Street, Suite 1173 Sacramento, CA 95814 Sent Via Electronic Mail Dear Governor Newsom, As County Superintendent of Schools and Superintendents of the 13 school districts in Butte County, we have served our communities through each Mary Sakuma challenging stage of the COVID-19 pandemic. We have implemented the Superintendent msakuma@bcoe.org mandates of the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) to ensure in-person learning can occur while continuing to focus on the safety of students and staff. During this time, we have observed overallminimal in- school transmission. The Butte County Public Health COVID-19 website Ann Bates confirmed that as of December 7, 2021, cases in school-aged children make Senior Executive Assistant abates@bcoe.org up 11.5% of all confirmed cases in Butte County. Additionally, confirmed cases in children ages 0-17 years have experienced an overall downward trend since early September, while most students were attending school in person. Board of Education On October 1, 2021, your office issued a press release indicating that you are Karin Matray directing CDPH to require a COVID-19 vaccination for all K-12 students Alan White once the vaccine is fully approved by the Federal Food & Drug Administration (FDA). At this time, we are aware that this mandate may go Brenda J. McLaughlin into effect as early as July 2022. Currently, there are allowances for families Amy Christianson to decline COVID-19 vaccination utilizing medical, religious, and personal exemptions. We support the current exemptions, as the COVID-19 vaccine Mike Walsh has not gone through the same vetting process as other vaccines currently Julian Diaz required for school attendance by California State law. Daniel Alexander The press release on October 1, 2021 also stated that staff vaccines would be required after the student COVID-19 vaccine mandate goes into effect. Currently, staff that do not wish to be vaccinated against COVID-19 have the 1859 Bird Street right to choose to be tested regularly. We have reason to believe that Oroville, CA 95965 mandatory staff vaccines will result in many educators and support staff (530) 532-5761 choosing to leave their professions, resulting in our educational community Fax (530) 532-5762 www.bcoe.org struggling to find quality educators and staff. Rather than mandating the vaccine, we request that the testing option for unvaccinated employees remain in place. An Equal Opportunity Employer “WHERE STUDENTS COME FIRST” We recognize our legal responsibility to comply with State laws, mandates, and the CDPH guidance. We also recognize the challenges these mandates create at schools and in our broader communities. The proposed COVID-19 vaccine mandate has caused significant concern in our community. Our schools have been significantly impacted by walk-outs, with our largest school district already reporting a loss of over one hundred thousand dollars. In addition to lost funds that will greatly impact next year's budget, students have lost additional learning time. The majority of children learn best when they are in school. We, as educators, have gone well beyond our call of duty to rise above the challenges placed before us and have fought to have our children in school. You must understand the challenges these mandates are creating for our school community. From the beginning of the response to this pandemic, State regulations have been mandated, placing much of the burden for communication, implementation, and enforcement entirely on principals, teachers, staff, administrators, and school boards. The educational community has experienced difficulties, including learning loss, employee retention, and a significant increase in staff and student mental health issues. The responsibility to implement mandates created with minimalinput from the local county or school district level and with limited or delayed support has resulted in timeand focus away from our critical mission of serving students and supporting teachers and staff. The responsibility of implementing mandates has also resulted in extreme division within our educational community. The resulting divisions are eroding the trust and partnerships that are essential in public schools. In listening to our community, we anticipate implementing a vaccination mandate without an exemption for personal beliefs will profoundly impact schools and students as families leave for independent study programs or other alternatives to classroom-based instruction. The divide in our community will deepen, as well as the learning loss students have already experienced. We presume that the State intends to create a supportive structure for public schools. Thus, we request that the State follow through with the necessary support during this challenging time to continue our work educating children and youth with the following: 1. The State of California must maintain medical, religious, and personal exemptions with regard to the COVID-19 vaccination requirement. We must honor the voices of our parents. 2. It is critical to engage the public transparently and coherently by clearly reinforcing that the authority over these mandates lies with the State and informing the public how they can engage with the correct decision-makers in these matters. 3. The creation and implementation of COVID-19 safety guidelines for masks, quarantines, and the establishment of standard classroom instruction, must be tailored to local conditions, and County Public Health Directors should be provided the authority to adjust all CDPH guidance and mandates to fit local conditions. 4.In addition, we request that the State identify what benchmarks must be met to end universal masking in classrooms. In Butte County, we believe in the importance of safe, in-person instruction for our students. Butte County schools worked diligently around the clock before the start of school in the fall of 2020 to ensure safety measures were in place to enable students and staff to return to in-person learning. Butte County schools were among the first in the State to return to in-person instruction in the fall of 2020. We are asking for your support to allow us to return to the business of educating our students in the safest and most normal way. Our students, our educators, and our communities need your support. Respectfully, Mary Sakuma, Butte County Superintendent of Schools Lauren Albert, Superintendent, Bangor Union Elementary School District Doug Kaelin, Superintendent, Biggs Unified School District Kelly Staley, Superintendent, Chico Unified School District John Bohannon, Superintendent, Durham Unified School District Joshua Peete, Superintendent, Golden Feather Union Elementary School District Justin Kern, Superintendent, Gridley Unified School District Gary Rogers, Superintendent, Manzanita Elementary School District Dr. Spencer Holtom, Superintendent, Oroville City Elementary School District Dr. Corey Willenberg, Superintendent, Oroville Union High School District Kathleen Andoe-Nolind, Superintendent, Palermo Union School District Tom Taylor, Superintendent, Paradise Unified School District Patsy Oxford, Superintendent, Pioneer Union Elementary School District Gregory Blake, Superintendent, Thermalito Union Elementary School District CC: Toni G. Atkins, Senate President Pro Tempore, California State Senate Butte County Board of Supervisors Nick Hardeman, Chief of Staff, California State Assembly James Gallagher, California State Assembly Member Megan Dahle, California State Assembly Member Jim Nielsen, California State Senator Anthony Rendon, Speaker, California State Assembly Tomás J. Aragón, M.D., Dr.P.H., Director & State Public Health Officer, California Department of Public Health Danette York, Public Health Director, Butte County