The governing board of the William S. Hart Union High School District sent five letters to various county and state officials urging for the prioritization of educators in the rollout of the COVID-19 vaccine.
On Thursday, the Hart District’s governing board sent five copies of a letter out to county and state leaders asking for educators to be prioritized for COVID-19 vaccines.
“It is discouraging to read about other nearby communities who have somehow found a way to begin the process of vaccinating teachers while those of us in L.A. County have to hear about continued delays,” the letter reads. “We sincerely believe that this is the piece of the puzzle that when implemented will have a disproportionately positive impact on our effort to end this pandemic crisis.”
The five recipients of the letter were:
- L.A. County Department of Public Health Director Dr. Barbara Ferrer
- L.A. County Supervisor Kathryn Barger
- State Assemblywoman Suzette Valladares, R-Santa Clarita
- State Senator Scott Wilk, R-Santa Clarita
- California Governor Gavin Newsom
“While we are proud of our District’s efforts to make the best of a challenging situation, it has become clear to all of us that this practice of ‘virtual school’ is not sustainable,” the letter reads. “It’s not just a talking point to say that students and families are being damaged by this period of enforced isolation.”
The vast majority of students in the Hart District have not been able to physically return to classes for nearly a year, with the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic prompting closures in March of 2020.
“We are regularly hearing from parents and students in despair over the seemingly intractable commitment to lockdowns, social distancing and school closures,” the letter reads.
While members of the board have worked since March to get students back into the classroom, they are also aware that there are teachers, support staff, and district families who are “understandably afraid of returning to school or to work while this pandemic continues to leave its mark on our community.”
“We are forced to balance these two realities as we navigate our way back to the restoration of in-person classes in our district,” the letter reads.
See Related: Native American Representative Discusses Hart High Indian Mascot With District Board
This balancing act has led the board to the conclusion that the prioritization of education staff for the vaccine should be a “community priority,” as it would “expedite” their ability to get the 22,000 students in the Hart District back into classrooms, and “restore the ability for our young people to safely interact as they should be doing.”
“Doing so would unlock opportunities for thousands of parents and family members to return to work and would have a positive effect on our faltering economy,” the letter reads. “Teachers with concerns about health and safety would be freed to turn their full attention to making the blended-learning model work for everyone.”
On Friday, LADPH Science Officer Dr. Paul Simon told reporters that while the county has received around 200,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccine over the past two weeks, the county’s service providers have the capacity to administer up to 600,000 doses per week.
“We remain gravely challenged by the limited supply of vaccine, and the variability of the amount of vaccines we receive from week to week,” Simon said. “Given the limited vaccine supply, our current priority continues to be to provide second doses to people who are due to receive them at least over the next week until additional supplies are available.”
Simon also confirmed that the winter storm striking the nation had caused “some delays” in the county’s COVID-19 vaccine rollout, delaying two shipments of the Moderna vaccine.
“The snowstorms across the United States did impact some shipments that resulted in some delays,” he said.
An estimated 1,676,900 doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been administered within Los Angeles County as of Friday, roughly three-fourths of which have gone to first doses.
As of Friday, roughly 15.5% of county residents over the age of 16 had received their first dose of COVID-19 vaccine, while an estimated 6% of residents in the same category were fully vaccinated. This represents an approximate increase of 4.5% and 3.4% respectively.
Approximately 262,925 doses of vaccine had been distributed to L.A. County for the past week, up from the 184,625 doses of the vaccine distributed in the prior week. Simon confirmed that the priority was still to focus on administering second doses.
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