Eatonville School District could get state funding cut for not firing unvaccinated staff

The Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) has issued a letter of non-compliance to the Eatonville School District, over reports that the district has yet to fire its unvaccinated employees.

State Superintendent says any future vaccine mandate for students will be ‘statewide’

A statewide COVID-19 vaccine mandate for K-12 school employees took effect on Oct. 18. OSPI estimates that nearly 90% of workers have been fully vaccinated. Another 0.7% obtained a medical exemption, while 9.6% received a religious exemption. Just 0.3% of school employees remained unvaccinated without an exemption.

School districts are required to terminate any unvaccinated employees who did not receive exemptions. According to OSPI, the Eatonville School District has not fired its unvaccinated employees, having instead placed them on unpaid leave.

Nearly 90% of Washington’s public school employees vaccinated against COVID

According to a report from the Tacoma News Tribune, the Eatonville school board failed to pass a measure to terminate unvaccinated staff members during an Oct. 20 meeting. Board members had expressed their opposition to the vaccine mandate during that meeting, with one stating that he was “profoundly unhappy with this.”

OSPI sent the district a “first notice of noncompliance” last Wednesday, giving its school board until Nov. 11 to “provide verification of compliance before a second notice is issued.” If a second notice is issued, the district then has five days before OSPI takes “corrective action.” That would include the withholding and eventual reduction of the Eatonville School District’s monthly distribution of state funds.

The Eatonville school board is scheduled to convene again on Wednesday. OSPI tells KIRO Radio that it hopes the board “will take action to come into compliance at that time.”

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