LANSING, Mich. — The Lansing School District Board of Education voted Thursday night to require all faculty and staff to get the COVID-19 vaccine. The district says those who choose not to receive the vaccine, will have to take a daily rapid antigen test.
The district already announced it would require all students in all grade levels, teachers, and staff to wear masks and remain socially distanced this fall, along with several other safety protocols determined by the administration when school is scheduled to start in Lansing on Monday, August 30, 2021.
Thursday's Board of Education resolution reads:
“Due to the overwhelming body of evidence that vaccines are highly safe and extremely effective in preventing hospitalizations and deaths from COVID-19, and due to the Board of Education‘s strong desire for our students to be able to benefit from in-person learning safely for the entire school year, therefore be it resolved: Every faculty and staff member in the Lansing School District will be required to receive a complete course of one of the three Covid-19 vaccines currently being administered in the United States and to submit proof of vaccination to HR (Human Resources) by September 30, 2021. Those who choose not to be vaccinated will be required to undergo daily rapid antigen testing for COVID-19.”
“Safety is the top priority of the Lansing School District,” said Board of Education president Gabrielle Lawrence. “As a school board, we need to do everything possible to keep our students, faculty, and staff safe.”
“The delta variant is surging in almost every part of the country and it’s just a matter of time before it reaches Michigan,” said Dr. Farhan Bhatti MD, a school board member, and a board-certified Family Physician and Chief Executive Officer at Care Free Medical in Lansing, who also works as a Pediatric Hospitalist at Sparrow Hospital. “Now is the time to take bold action to avoid a repeat of what’s happening in states across the south, where there are no pediatric and adult ICU beds available. The science is overwhelmingly clear – COVID vaccines prevent hospitalizations and prevent deaths.”
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