Washington's state superintendent asks Inslee to mandate COVID-19 vaccine for all K-12 employees

Washington State Superintendent of Public Instruction Chris Reykdal is asking Gov. Jay Inslee to make vaccination against COVID-19 a condition of employment for all employees working in Washington’s K-12 public schools.

The move comes just days after Inslee issued such a mandate for hundreds of thousands of state employees and private-sector health care workers. Those employees have until Oct. 18 to show proof of vaccination to their employer. If they’re unable to, they could be fired.

Reykdal is essentially asking for a carbon copy of the mandate. He said the medical and religious exemptions allowed under Inslee's mandate — which Reykdal is seeking for the school mandate — should assuage concerns among employees who are hesitant to get vaccinated but don't want to lose their jobs.    

"It is a false narrative to say that it's a choice between getting a vaccine and losing your job, " Reykdal said at a Friday news conference. "There are exemptions, and that's important." 

Reykdal said protocols for applying for a medical or religious exemptions are still being discussed. While issuing his mandate for state employees and health care workers, Inslee said applications for exemptions would be rigorously vetted and exemptions for personal and philosophical reasons are not permitted under that mandate. 

Katy Payne, a spokesperson for the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction, said roughly 140,000 school employees would be subject to the mandate if Inslee agrees to Reykdal’s request. 

In a letter sent to Inslee on Thursday, Reykdal said Washington’s spiking COVID case count — fueled by the highly contagious Delta variant of the coronavirus, which is rapidly spreading through unvaccinated communities — prompted him to make the ask.

“(Students) losing precious time learning in-person with their educators and peers because of quarantine or, potentially, school building closures is a real threat," Reykdal wrote. "Especially after a year and a half of remote and hybrid learning, a continuity of in-person instruction will be more important this year than ever."

A spokesperson for the governor’s office, Tara Lee, said Inslee did not include K-12 employees in this week’s mandate because his office was “focused on cabinet level state employees and those who work in private health care.” But she noted that Inslee does have the authority to issue a separate order for school employees.

“As with all this around COVID, we continue to look for ways to ensure the health and safety of all Washingtonians. We believe that as many people as possible should be vaccinated, especially those who work with vulnerable populations,” Lee said in an email. “We will continue to look at policies to increase the vaccination rate, but we do not have plans to make any new announcements today.”  

The state’s teacher’s union, the Washington Education Association (WEA), said it will support a mandate if health experts say it’s the right move.

"All along we have said that we will follow the guidance of public health experts," spokesperson Julie Popper said in an email. "If it is the opinion of public health experts that a vaccine mandate is the next best step to take to control this pandemic, WEA will support that position."

On Thursday, Seattle Schools Interim Superintendent Brent Jones said that all non-union employees in the district need to be fully vaccinated by Oct. 18 or they would face dismissal. Similar to Inslee’s earlier mandate, the district’s mandate will allow for limited medical and religious exemptions.

"Parents and caregivers are entrusting their children’s lives to us. Half of our students are not yet eligible for vaccination, and likely won’t be for many months. We must do everything within our power to support healthy and safe schools. It is our obligation," Jones wrote in a statement. 

Children under 12 are not yet eligible to be vaccinated.

Jones also said he was directing his central office team to immediately begin bargaining with the district’s labor partners to establish a mandate for all its union employees. While the superintendent has the authority to mandate vaccines, such an order is still subject to bargaining with unions that represent the district’s teachers and classified staff. 

The National Education Association also endorsed COVID-19 vaccine requirements for school workers on Thursday.

"We believe that such vaccine requirements and accommodations are an appropriate, responsible, and necessary step to ensure the safety of our school communities and to protect our students," Association President Becky Pringle said in a statement.

However, if schools employees don’t get vaccinated, they should have to submit to regular testing instead of being fired, Pringle said.

When Inslee’s office issued its mandate for state employees and health care workers, it said it chose to fire uncooperative employees instead of asking them to take regular tests because that process costs millions, does not work well in "congregate care settings such as (correctional) facilities and long-term care,” and “has not reduced the spread of COVID."

Seattle schools are slated to start next month. Officials at Seattle Public Schools said last week that the district’s 104 schools are expected to start on time despite the surge in state COVID cases.

Data from the state Department of Health shows that the state is averaging more than 2,600 new COVID cases a day and hospitalizations have increased by 70% over the last two weeks. Recent studies have shown that the emergence of the Delta variant has coincided with a rise in the number of children getting sick. The American Academy of Pediatrics said that children accounted for 19% of new COVID cases in July, up from 14% earlier in the year.