Tacoma teachers, like me, must be vaccinated against COVID-19 for good of all

Remote and hybrid schooling during the height of the pandemic made the lives of children and their parents more difficult, and some students struggled to learn.

As a Tacoma Public Schools teacher, I support reopening in-person school full-time. But with COVID-19 rates once again rising in Pierce County, schools must do everything we can to protect children.

Gov. Jay Inslee recently mandated that state employees and healthcare workers be fully vaccinated against coronavirus. I believe public school teachers must also be vaccinated to keep our children and community safe.

Tacoma school officials have prioritized students’ safety during the pandemic by issuing mask mandates. They can do more by requiring teachers and staff who have contact with students to be fully vaccinated.

Children under 12 cannot yet receive the vaccine, putting elementary students and their families at risk even with masks. Parents should have the peace of mind of knowing that at least the adults their children interact with are vaccinated.

Requiring immunization for those who are medically able will also help students and family members who are immunocompromised or cannot be vaccinated for medical reasons.

Online school is, for most students, a poor substitute for classroom instruction. I saw firsthand how students who could barely focus or attend online classes suddenly began to flourish once we returned to in-person learning.

Kids said they felt isolated. Others said they couldn’t focus without someone physically there to hold them accountable.

Many students told me they were happy to be back at in-person school and being able to see their friends.

My colleagues and I put tremendous effort into making online learning as meaningful as possible, so the change for students wasn’t about the quality of the lessons or the teaching. Rather, it was the personal connection between teacher and student — and just as important, the connection of students to peers — that made the difference.

One student never attended class online and never completed assignments. When school reopened in person, his attendance was perfect, and I was able to work with him to complete assignments. He got good grades and learned algebra.

COVID-19’s resurgence means that teachers and staff members will undoubtedly be exposed to the virus. Without widespread vaccination, teacher and staff absences from illness or quarantine could result in chaos.

Substitute teachers have already been hard to find during the pandemic. This problem will be magnified as schools face the challenges of reopening for full-time, in-person school for the first time since the pandemic closed schools in March 2020.

When teachers were potentially exposed to COVID last year and had to quarantine, we struggled to find substitutes. If none were available. Other teachers and staff gave up their planning periods to cover for classes. That meant they had to plan classes on their own time.

Of course teachers and staff who cannot be vaccinated for valid reasons should not be punished, but they should be placed in roles where they do not have contact with students, especially students who themselves cannot be vaccinated.

California is requiring that teachers be vaccinated, and Washington public schools Superintendent Chris Reykdal has asked Inslee to do the same. Dr. Anthony Fauci, the chief medical adviser to President Biden, has also urged vaccination mandates for teachers.

But Tacoma Public Schools do not need to wait to see what happens at the state or national level to do the right thing. The sooner a mandate is in place, the sooner we will have a fully vaccinated staff.

Tacoma schools should require both masks and teacher vaccination to give Tacoma’s children and families the best protection we can.

Kevin Heinrich teaches math at IDEA High School in Tacoma’s South End.