Educator Vaccine FAQ Update

To:            Superintendents and Principals, Charter School Leaders, Private
                 School Leaders, School Nurses, Business Managers, Public Information
                 Officers, ESD Reopening Advisors and Education Partners
From:       Pat Allen, Oregon Health Authority Director and Colt Gill, Oregon Department
                 of Education Director
Date:        Monday, October 4, 2021
RE:           Educator Vaccine FAQ Update

As we are nearing the October 18, 2021 deadline for school and school-based program employees and volunteers to provide documentation that they are fully vaccinated or request an exception, we are writing to provide you updated information regarding the rule requiring vaccination of employees and volunteers of schools and school-based programs. 

Today is the final day for a person to receive their final shot and still have time to complete the two week post-shot waiting period to be fully vaccinated by the deadline. We are encouraged that so many educators have gotten their questions answered and stepped up to get their shots to protect themselves and their community.

It is the general duty of every school employer to protect the health and safety of employees by establishing and maintaining a healthy and safe work environment. This includes ensuring all employees comply with health and safety measures adopted by the school district, and state and federal requirements, including but not limited to, vaccination and masking rules.

School employers hold the additional responsibility of mitigating the spread of COVID-19 and protecting the continuity of learning for students. Schools communities include students and staff (and the family members they return to each day) who because of a medical condition are more likely to get severely ill from COVID-19. Severe illness means that a person with COVID-19 may need hospitalization, intensive care, or a ventilator to help them breathe, and they may even die.

Vaccines not only protect the individuals who receive them, but effectively reduce the spread of COVID-19 to others, reduce the impact of quarantine, protect continuity of learning, and save lives. Vaccinations are our route to a stable workforce and a stable learning environment for our children. 

Unless they have an approved religious or medical exception, teachers, school and school-based program staff, and volunteers covered by the rule will need to be fully vaccinated in order to work in-person with direct or indirect contact with students after October 18, 2021.  This applies to any teachers, school and school-based program staff and volunteers covered by the rule if hired after October 18.

The following are additional updates to the Frequently Asked Questions resource:

• The school and school-based program vaccination rule applies to anyone who provides goods and services to schools at any time students or children are or may be present, including after regular school hours, unless they are a short-term visitor or a delivery person.
  
  The rule applies to anyone who is employed by or volunteers in a public school, private school, parochial school, or charter school, alternative educational program or school-based program or who is not employed but otherwise engaged to provide goods or services to a school or school-based program through any formal or informal agreement, whether compensated or uncompensated, and includes but is not limited to teachers, administrative staff, coaches, drivers, and volunteers. This rule also applies to before and afterschool programs located at schools.
  
  This rule does not apply to:
  • Short-term visitors or individuals making deliveries are not subject to this rule.
  • Individuals whose job or volunteer work never includes direct or indirect contact with students or children at the school are not covered by this rule. 
• Direct contact with students or children includes in-person activities where the person is interacting directly with the students or children, e.g. teaching or driving a school bus. Indirect contact includes activities where work is carried out in the building or area while students or children are or could be present.  Direct or indirect contact with students or children, taken together, includes essentially all situations where a person is in the school building, school bus, or on school grounds when students or children are or may be present.  
• For employees refusing to comply with this rule by October 18, 2021, employers must follow their existing personnel processes in determining employee discipline issues, including termination decisions. Further, while employers may generally discipline or terminate an employee who refuses to follow workplace requirements, employers must ensure that any disciplinary action or termination does not run afoul of anti-discrimination laws.
  
  Employers may be required to reasonably accommodate individuals who are unable to comply with the law for medical reasons or for sincerely held religious beliefs, unless the accommodation would create an undue hardship to the employer or a direct threat to the employee or others. If an employer chooses to temporarily assign an employee to remote work on the basis of being unvaccinated by the deadline, the employer will only be in compliance with the rule if the employee is never on-site at the school where they could have in-person direct or indirect contact with a student.

• After October 18, 2021, individuals covered by the rule may not work or volunteer in-person where they may have direct or indirect contact with students unless they are fully vaccinated or have a religious or medical exception. 
  
  It is possible that some employers may, in some limited circumstances, choose to temporarily place staff who have not gotten vaccinated or who do not have a religious or medical exception by the deadline on some type of leave or may choose to reassign them to a position where they are not teaching, working, learning, studying, assisting, observing, or volunteering at a school in-person where they can have direct or indirect contact with students. If an employer chooses to assign an employee or volunteer who has not gotten vaccinated or who does not have a religious or medical exception by the deadline to remote work, the employer will only be in compliance with the rule if the employee or volunteer is never on-site at the school where they could have in-person direct or indirect contact with a student – that includes but is not limited to being prohibited from going to school for any of the following if students are or could be present:
  
  • Parent/teacher conferences
  • Making copies or picking something up
  • Providing tutoring or materials
  • Administering assessments 
  • Any other circumstance or activity that would include direct or indirect contact with students
• Employers are subject to civil penalties for not complying with the rule. Employers should consult with their legal counsel on issues of legal liability. We also strongly recommend that you consult with the Oregon Department of Education on potential limitations on access to federal emergency relief funds for school districts that fail to comply with this rule.  

Visit the OHA COVID-19 vaccine page for additional information on required vaccinations.

Thank you for your continued partnership in providing the best learning experience and environment for students and staff across the state.