Highway 58 schools may not lose employees because of state COVID-19 vaccine mandate

By DEAN REA/Correspondent/The Herald—The three school districts bordering Highway 58 may not be impacted as severely as many others by the state-imposed COVID-19 vaccine mandate that became effective Monday.

Gov. Kate Brown announced in August that the state would require that all health care workers and K-12 school employees would be fully vaccinated against the virus by that date.

The manner in which the medical and religious exemption clause is being observed appears to be a factor in mitigating the impact of the governor’s mandate in the three Highway 58 districts.

Oakridge has complied with the state mandate, Supt. Reta Doland said Tuesday morning during a telephone interview.

“Probably a dozen of the district’s 80 on-site employees have filed for an exemption to the vaccine mandate on religious and medical grounds,” she said.

“We have accommodations in place for them,” she added, “and testing is being conducted weekly. On-site testing is available, too, for students as well as for staff members.”

Doland said the district has been able to negotiate a number of issues associated with the virus “while honoring and respecting our employees.”

The Lowell School Board held a special Oct. 11 morning meeting to endorse a policy memorandum with the local Oregon School Employees Association chapter dealing with that issue.

One section provides that an attempt will be made for an employee to continue working without receiving a COVID-19 vaccination.

“Reasonable accommodations shall be made on a case-by-case basis and depend on several factors, including but not limited to: the nature of the employee’s job duties, the ability to maintain a safe work environment, protective measures that may prevent transmission of the coronavirus, job relocation and restructuring (including telework options), social distancing and any undue burden such accommodations pose to the District.”

Pleasant Hill Supt. Scott Linenberger told school board members Monday night that 15 of the district’s 114 teachers, administrators and other “on-site” workers have filed for exemption to the state mandate.

Employees who have chosen not to get the vaccine must fill out a daily form reporting “no” to such questions as not having a temperature higher than 99.9 degrees F, not having a fever within the last 48 hours, not having a cough, sore throat or shortness of breath and not being in close contact with a COVID-19 infected person during the last 72 hours.

A shortage of school bus drivers has impacted the three districts, and in some cases has delayed or resulted in teams canceling competition because buses were unavailable. Oakridge and Pleasant Hill contract bus service with First Student, a transportation business. Lowell hires its drivers.

While districts around the state reported the loss of jobs resulting from the state mandate, an optimistic note was shared Monday with Lowell School District employees by Michelle Stephens, Human Resources and Communications director:

“First off, I want to tell you how much I appreciate all the patience while we have worked through the complexities of the vaccination/exception process. While many people have differing views on vaccinations, mandates and masks, I think we can all agree that keeping our kids in school is our number one goal. Each of you have done your part to make sure that this happens.

“Many other districts are making decisions regarding the mandates that are having negative consequences for staff and students. Lowell staff, administration and unions have worked together to create agreements that allow us to follow the law as well as continue to meet the needs of staff and students.

“Much of the information surrounding vaccinations and exceptions is confidential, but I would like for you all to know that as a district, we are 100 percent compliant with the mandate….”