School Walkout In Riverside County Shows Squeeze From Both Sides

RIVERSIDE COUNTY, CA — California's COVID-19 public health orders continue to put school districts in the crosshairs of some angry parents on both sides of the issue, and Monday was no exception.

Nov. 15 school "walkouts" were held, and several districts were notified of parents' contempt for COVID-19 mandates via handwritten notes and old shoes. The items were placed in front of district offices overnight for officials to clean up Monday morning — including some in Riverside County.

"Leave a mask at the trash," read a note that was accompanied by a pair of black rubber flip flops at Beaumont Unified School District.

At Murrieta Valley Unified School District, a note read "My body my choice." It was placed beneath blue sneakers.

Monday morning, BUSD and MVUSD officials had to clear their respective entrances of the protest items. It's unclear whether either district filed a police report or if fines could be handed out under California's illegal dumping and/or vandalism laws.

Since the pandemic began, most school districts have experienced the wrath of some angry parents — for and against state and county mandates. Many school districts that have resumed in-person board meetings now have a police officer on-hand to ensure safety after disorderly conduct by some parents.

School districts are required to follow state mandates or possibly risk losing state funding. While some districts have adopted resolutions urging the state to relax COVID mandates, there is little incentive for the California Department of Public Health to do so because most kids are unvaccinated and COVID spread continues. In Riverside County, 0 percent of kids aged 5-11 are fully vaccinated because vaccine authorization was just announced this month. In the 12-15 age group, just 45.5 percent of children are fully vaccinated; 53.6 percent of kids ages 16-17 are fully vaccinated.

Districts that push back against mandates also face potential fallout from unions, which could result in massive strikes.

Conversely, parents who are pressuring districts to implement a vaccine mandate now will likely have to wait. School districts can impose mandates stricter than those of the state and county, but the legal tangle of mandating a childhood vaccine before it has full U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval is not something many districts have the resources to tackle — even if they wanted to.

Last month, Gov. Gavin Newsom said mandatory COVID-19 vaccination for in-person learning will come only after a vaccine has full FDA approval.

The state mandate will occur at "the start of the term" following FDA full approval for certain ages and grade spans — grades 7-12, or 12 and older; and grades K-6, or ages 5-11. "The start of the term" is defined by the state as either January 1 or July 1, whichever comes first. At the very soonest, the requirement for grades 7-12 would begin July 1, 2022, according to the state. But in order for that to happen, a vaccine must first receive full FDA approval. To date, the Pfizer vaccine has full FDA approval for people ages 16 and older — not younger age groups.

At the time of this publication, parents will have the ability to opt out of the COVID vaccine mandate for their kids based on religious or ideological reasons. However, all other school vaccines are required under state law, regardless of personal beliefs, so time will tell whether the exemption holds for the COVID-19 vaccine.

Some parents are threatening to place their kids in private schools or opt for homeschooling when a vaccine mandate actually arrives. A Temecula Valley Unified School District board member, who is also a parent, resigned his seat because he said he doesn't believe the COVID vaccine should be mandated.

Angry parents on both sides are squeezing districts. Social media campaigns spread like wildfire, and in many cases perpetuate misinformation. Some school board members and top administrators in Riverside County have recently announced early retirement. It's unclear how many talented leaders are eager to apply for the vacancies amid the tensions that could grow worse during the 2022-23 academic school year when mandatory COVID vaccines might become reality for K-12.

As many district officials have said, "there are no easy answers."