Peninsula School District tells parents how many employees have been vaccinated

More than 92 percent of the Peninsula School District’s employees have been vaccinated, Superintendent Krestin Bahr told parents in an email on Friday.

“I am proud to say that our staff has overwhelmingly complied with the state’s vaccine mandate,” Bahr wrote. “I’m grateful for their dedication to keep each other and our students safe during the pandemic.”

In an emergency proclamation Aug. 18, Gov. Jay Inslee announced that all employees working in K-12 education, most childcare, early learning, and higher education must be vaccinated against the COVID-19 virus by Oct. 18.

A total of 1,109 of the district’s 1,197 employees, or 92.6 percent, have been fully vaccinated, the district said in a report that was due to be filed Oct. 25 for the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction.

“I believe these numbers are a direct result of our efforts to work with our union leaders on the potential impacts of the mandate on our employees,” Bahr wrote. “We worked together to share information about the mandate timeline, exemption options, the process for claiming an exemption, and information about local vaccine clinics so those who wanted to get vaccinated knew where to go.”

Eighty-six employees, or about 7 percent of the staff, were approved for medical or religious exemptions. They will be required to be tested weekly and follow state guidance about face covering and distancing. They cannot be identified, Bahr said, because of privacy regulations.

Two employees did not receive exemptions and resigned before the deadline, said district spokesperson Aimee Gordon. They were not classroom teachers, she said.

“Regardless of vaccination status, all of our staff and students are required to stay home when sick, wear a face covering, and maintain social distancing guidelines,” Bahr told parents.

Shortly after Inslee announced the mandate, school board President David Olson told an Aug. 26 board meeting that the district had no choice but to obey it. He read a letter from Chris Reykdal, the superintendent of public instruction outlining how schools may be denied state funding if they do not comply.

“This is not at the discretion of school boards or superintendents,” Reykdal added, according to Olson, but an emergency public health measure that must be obeyed.

Bahr told the board that the mandate would be carried out with a light touch.

“We are trying to do this in a way that is human and loving, because we have amazing staff,” she said. “We are trying to do what we must in ways that are caring and confidential.”

School numbers

According to the Peninsula School District’s “COVID Dashboard,” there have been 10 cases of the virus originating on school campuses since Sept. 7, and 122 cases that originated off campus.

There are currently 12 cases at Vaughn Elementary, seven each at Peninsula High School and Goodman Middle School; five at Discovery Elementary; four each at Harbor Heights Elementary, Pioneer Elementary and Key Peninsula Middle School; three each at the Educational Service Center, Evergreen Elementary and Henderson Bay High School; two each at Gig Harbor High School and Pioneer Elementary, and one each at Purdy, Swift Water and Voyager elementary schools.

This story was originally published October 23, 2021 at 5:00 AM.