Portland Public Schools: Listening Sessions: We Want To Hear Your Voice On Proposed COVID-19 Vaccine Requirement For Students (Age 12+)

Press release from Portland Public Schools:

October 14, 2021

PPS wants to hear from you to weigh the impacts of requiring all students 12 years and older to be vaccinated against COVID-19. Next week we will host a series of virtual listening sessions for students and families. They will be conducted via Zoom.  

The sessions are:

We invite PPS families to join us for three listening sessions grouped by high schools:

• Group 1: Roosevelt, Lincoln, Ida B. Wells, Metropolitan Learning Center. Anyone who needs interpretation to offer comments should attend this group. Interpreters will be available for Spanish, Vietnamese, Mandarin, Cantonese, Russian and Somali at the numbers listed to the right. American Sign Language will also be available in this session. (click here to RSVP)
• Group 2: Grant, McDaniel, Jefferson, Multiple Pathways to Graduation programs (click here to RSVP)
• Group 3: Cleveland, Franklin, Benson (click here to RSVP)

We encourage families of elementary and middle school, focus option students to choose a group based on their current high school and/or  future high school.

We invite Spanish-speaking PPS families to join us to share their thoughts on this topic. This listening session will be predominantly conducted in Spanish. 

If you would like to join, please click this link.

We invite our PPS students to join us to share their thoughts. Please note: This event is exclusively for students.

The listening sessions are meant to hear directly from you, our families and students. Here is what you need to know:

• Once you RSVP, you will receive more information, including zoom link, meeting protocols and a “what to expect.”
• After a 5-minute welcome and introduction to the event by PPS Board members and staff, we will invite you, individually, to provide a 2-minute comment. We are encouraging comments focused on whether or not to require vaccines for students 12 years and older.

If you cannot attend or prefer to submit a written comment on this topic, you can do it by using our customer service platform, Let’s Talk.

Thank you.

This press release was produced by Portland Public Schools. The views expressed here are the author’s own.