Charlotte-Mecklenburg School Workers Face Choice With Vaccination

CHARLOTTE, NC — Teachers and other employees in the Charlotte-Mecklenburg School District will soon be required to show proof of vaccination or be subject to weekly COVID-19 testing, school officials announced Tuesday night, according to a published report.

School employees will be asked to provide documentation of their vaccination beginning Sept. 20, The Charlotte Observer reported. The proof must include an uploaded photo of their vaccination card and those who are not vaccinated must undergo regular testing.

That testing will begin at the elementary school level within the next two weeks, The Observer reported. Testing for students who have displayed symptoms of COVID-19 or who want to limit how long they must remain quarantined after being exposed to someone with the coronavirus is expected to start sometime in October, the newspaper reported.

The district’s human resources told school board members on Tuesday night that is not appropriate to ask employees why they have not been vaccinated. As of Tuesday, the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services reported that 62 percent of adult residents have been fully vaccinated while 67 percent of adults have received at least one shot.

Pejot said that anyone who repeatedly fails to comply with weekly testing requirements could be fired. A district spokesman did not immediately return an email to Patch on Wednesday seeking information about the percentage of district employees who have been vaccinated.

“It’s going to be handled as discreetly as possible,” Christina Pejot, the district’s hurman resources director said at Tuesday’s meeting, according to the Observer. “This isn’t a vaccine mandate. ...Choose to get vaccinated or choose to submit to weekly testing."