How Federal Vaccine Mandates Affect Education in Idaho
Staff at at least two schools and a dozen Head Start baking programs in Idaho will need to be vaccinated against the coronavirus, under a new federal mandate.
President Joe Biden recently announced vaccine mandates for big business, sparking fierce political anger from Republican leaders in Idaho. But the demands for private companies – which drew threats of legal action from Governor Brad Little and an unsuccessful attempt to reconvene the Conservative House legislature – have attracted more attention than some lesser-known implications for the Idaho education. Companies with more than 100 employees must either force injections of the coronavirus on all staff or test staff members weekly, according to the Associated Press. But employees in federally-run schools as well as Head Start and Early Head Start programs must also get vaccinated, and weekly testing won’t be an alternative option.
This includes at least the Coeur d’Alene Tribal School and the Shoshone Bannock School District in Pocatello, both managed by the Federal Office of Indian Affairs. This also applies to Head Start programs in Idaho, which employ more than 1,300 people, Idaho Head Start Association executive director Bill Foxcroft confirmed to EdNews last week.
“Head Start programs are all funded (by) federal money… so they are obligated to meet federal requirements. So that applies to all Head Start programs across the country as well as to everyone in Idaho, ”Foxcroft said.
It is not known when employees should be vaccinated with.
The warrants come as hospitals in Idaho are forced to ration care as most unvaccinated COVID-19 patients have caused overcrowding in intensive care units and strained several health systems. School-aged children account for an increased share of Idaho’s cases, as the delta variant continues to be the dominant coronavirus strain in the state, according to EdNews reports.
While the warrants could serve as a stopgap for Idaho’s over-extensive medical system, they could have unintended consequences.
‘People are dying needlessly’ from COVID-19, but Foxcroft is worried that Head Start teachers who refuse to be vaccinated and quit their jobs will exacerbate an existing worker shortage – which he attributes to low wages – and complicate the situation. preschool education programs task to stay operational in Idaho.
“It’s a two-edged sword. I think warrants are needed to get people out of the pandemic because people are not going to get vaccinated unless they are forced to. But on the other hand, (the mandate will) have an impact on your ability to retain qualified staff, ”he said.
The association, which is working with the Idaho congressional delegation to secure funding for Idaho’s programs, will not use its relationships with elected officials to push back the term, but Foxcroft says its concerns persist.
The Coeur d’Alene Tribal School and the Shoshone Bannock School District each have around 30 employees. Even combined with the much larger number of employees at Head Start, these numbers are a drop in the bucket compared to the more than 40,000 employees at state-run K-12 schools.
No school or district run by Idaho has adopted a coronavirus vaccine mandate for staff or students. About 16 have mask warrants, according to the EdNews follow-up.
Head Start preschool education programs are intended to help children prepare for kindergarten, and they target low-income students and students with disabilities who may benefit the most from additional academic and social support.
Administrators from affected schools and several Head Start programs could not be reached for comment prior to publication.
Randy Schrader, data analyst for Idaho Education News, contributed to this report.
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