The William S. Hart Union High School District governing board is set to discuss the possibility of sending formal requests to various state representatives, asking that the district be given more local control over COVID-19 mitigation measures on campuses.
The filing of the requests, which will be brought before the board during its Wednesday night meeting, would follow the example of the Newhall School District governing board, which on Feb. 8 approved multiple communications to be sent to Sacramento asking that the local bodies be given more autonomy in implementing public health measures on their school sites.
“This letter serves as a follow-up to Resolution No. 21/22-11 that we, the Newhall School District (NSD) governing board sent you on Nov. 17, 2021, that asks you to rescind or reconsider mandating the COVID-19 vaccination to children 12 and under, and to ask you to allow local school districts full authority on determining their mask-wearing policy,” reads the letter addressed to Gov. Gavin Newsom from the Newhall School District.
The elementary school district’s letter to the governor goes on to argue that the lack of longitudinal data for the vaccine for children under the age of 12 leaves many parents feeling sufficiently uninformed to truly give informed consent.
The Newhall School District correspondence goes on to argue that school districts are in the best position to decide what best practices need to be mandated and/or recommended to promote the safest physical and social-emotional health learning environments for students and staff, based on local health statistics and the guidelines from the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health.
In addition to formalizing their letter to Newsom, the elementary school district also approved a letter to the California state legislators expressing the board’s opposition to Senate Bill 871 — legislation that would require COVID-19 vaccines and limit parents’ ability to oppose immunizations on the basis of personal beliefs — as well as their support for policies and practices that increase local control.
The Hart district agenda item for Wednesday night’s meeting directly cites the Newhall School District letters as templates they could follow if they should ultimately approve sending similar correspondence.
The William S. Hart Union High School District regular meeting is slated to begin at 7 p.m. at the district offices, located at 21380 Centre Pointe Parkway. The meeting will be livestreamed for those who do not wish to comply with the mask requirement or wish to view the meeting virtually at https://youtu.be/bHnyDKpDFfs.
