Seattle schools may ask state to make COVID-19 vaccine mandatory for all WA students

The Seattle School Board could soon vote on a resolution that urges the state Department of Health to require coronavirus vaccinations for all Washington students.

A vote on the resolution was originally scheduled to take place during a special meeting on Oct. 13. The board elected to postpone that vote until its regular meeting on Nov. 3, saying it wants more time for community input.

The resolution was put forward by Board President Chandra Hampson who represents Northeast Seattle. It asks the state Board of Health to add the COVID-19 vaccine — once it’s been approved for use in children ages 5-11 — to the list of shots students are already required to get before attending public school in Washington.

“COVID-19 is still a material threat to the health and safety of all students within the Seattle Public Schools community,” a draft of the resolution says. “[It] disproportionately threatens the health and safety of children of color, and is a further threat to the successful continuation of in-person instruction.”

A resolution is not legally binding and individual school districts in Washington do not have authority to impose vaccine requirements. However, a push from the elected body of the state’s largest school district to make coronavirus vaccines mandatory for students could put pressure on state health officials, who do have that authority.

A spokesperson for the state Board of Health told the Seattle Times that the board “may consider” making the vaccine mandatory if a version of the shot for children ages 5-11 is approved by federal regulators.

There have been 414 positive cases — 360 among students — in the district since the start of the school year, according to the district’s online COVID-19 data. Of those cases, nearly half were reported in the southern part of the district. The case counts represent community transmission, meaning students and staff may not have contracted the virus in Seattle schools.

In Washington, 69% of people 12 and older are fully vaccinated and 75% have received at least one dose, according to state data.