Editor,
As teachers return to school this week, and students joining them next week, we still do not know whether vaccines will be mandated for teachers and staff in Watertown Public Schools.
We do know that the CDC, state government, and the largest teachers union in Massachusetts are all recommending school staff be vaccinated. Medical professionals, including Dr. Fauci, are saying that the best way to protect children under 12 who are not yet vaccinated is to surround them with vaccinated people. Many school districts have already put this common sense requirement in place.
We are fortunate to be in a community where the majority of adults are vaccinated, including the majority of teachers. But, the data from the last 18 months show that when there was Covid-19 transmission in schools, it was usually driven by unvaccinated school staff. WPS students deserve to have their health protected by the adults around them and cannot afford to miss more school unnecessarily.
As a parent, a Watertown citizen, and a School Committee candidate, I urge our district to show our commitment to the safety and education of students by choosing to mandate vaccines for all adults in the school buildings.
Rachel Kay
Watertown Parent and School Committee Candidate
This so called plague has a 99.7% recovery rate and the VAST majority of “infected” must be tested to even know if they were sick.
This vaccine is anything but. It does NOTHING to prevent an infection but it DOES make BILLIONS of dollars for big Pharma.
Guess who DOESN’T require the shot for employees..
The White House
The CDC
The FDA
CONGRESS
Pfizr
Moderna
J&J
Even the CEO of Pfizer has REFUSED the shot.
Wake up and stop falling for lies from people who are just using you and your children to get MORE rich. If Trumo were president NONE of you would take this shot.
You do know that even Trump got vaccinated, right? And even Republicans are urging people to get vaccinated: https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/growing-number-of-republicans-urge-vaccinations-amid-delta-surge/2021/07/20/52a06e9c-e999-11eb-8950-d73b3e93ff7f_story.html
Can you provide an article that proves there’s a 99.7% recovery rate? You do know that recovery is much more likely for people who are vaccinated, yes? That most people who are being hospitalized with Covid now, or who die of it, are not vaccinated?
Why would who is president affect whether people would take the shot?
The CEO of Pfizer got his shot back in March. Your whole post is complete misinformation.
Here’s the link: https://www.factcheck.org/2021/08/scicheck-pfizer-ceo-got-the-covid-19-vaccine/
There is no place here for conspiracy theories, completely lacking in factual support and based largely on obvious lies, as we continue to fight a pandemic that has taken over 600,000 American lives.
Oh for the love of god can we please stop with all the conspiracy theories and false information about covid. Covid is a highly contagious virus that has killed many. I don’t want to get it and have taken many precautions to not get it nor do I want to be responsible for giving it to someone else. We all need to do our part in knocking this virus down and keeping each other safe and healthy.
I agree with Ms. Kay that teachers and staff should all be vaccinated but I also understand the hesitancy by some. The children in our public schools cannot afford another wasted year because of Covid. Teachers need to step up and be vaccinated so they can do their jobs safely. I think the Town of Watertown should mandate the vaccine for all town employees. I also think the mask mandate needs to be in place for now and am sick of hearing people complain about wearing a mask. If you don’t like that a business or indoor building has a mask mandate then go elsewhere where there Is no mandate. More and more cities and towns in MA are requiring masks for indoor buildings. All one has to do is look at the staggering cases of covid coming out of the South and the low vaccination rates to see a direct link between the two.
Listen to what a local Infectious Disease Doctor had to say about wearing masks and the best type of masks to wear.
https://www.wcvb.com/article/mass-doctor-on-best-face-covering-to-wear-for-covid-protection/37457556
Our teachers have been “stepping up” since March 12, 2020. Our teachers and their families and friends were the ones pulling all nighters to get a coveted CVS spot for a vaccine to protect our families, our students, and ourselves. Thank you, teachers, for consistently being there for our students.
Thank you to Ms. Kay for speaking out. The silence from other school leaders on this obvious thing has been deafening.
This should have have been put in place long ago- in time for everyone to be vaxxed by the start of school. It’s not like nobody knew when Sept. 8 was coming. Now, even if a mandate is put in tonight, kids who don’t have to option to get vaccinated, other school staff, and whoever is in their households will all be put at greater risk when school opens in 6 days. Why? WPS administration and the teachers union should be ashamed for dragging their feet on this.
This is currently in negotiations with our amazing WPS educators union and members of the school administration cannot discuss ongoing negotiations until they are settled with a MOA or MOU. The teachers are neither unwilling nor refusing to be vaccinated, this is just a typical negotiation cycle that is being worked through due to many pandemic reopening issues. No one is dragging their feet, this is being actively discussed and pursued through the correct channels.
People should be aware that Lily Read has a massive conflict of interest about this and many other things re. our schools. She is a union activist and on the Executive Board of the Cambridge teachers union, which is a sister union the the Watertown teachers union as both are in the MTA. It would be very difficult for her to ever push back against the union because of this. Agreements here could even help or hurt w/ union negotiations in Cambridge. Here is her leadership position in the union:
https://cambridge.massteacher.org/leadership/executive-board-members/
It’s fine to be a union activist. There is a good role for that and there is nothing wrong with it. But, you shouldn’t also be on the School Committee where part of your responsibilities is to negotiate with union. That is a blatant conflict of interest.
Thanks for posting this. I have never hid my union membership, and am in fact, quite proud of it. That being said, there is no conflict of interest, and in fact I have filed with the MA Board of Ethics and been cleared. The Watertown union has endorsed both myself and Jen Nicholson (a former union leader in her teaching district as well!).
I am happy to answer questions anytime about this, however there is no conflict of interest and I stand behind all positions I have taken.
Agreed! I’m dumbfounded that more parents don’t see (or admit) this as a conflict. It was very clear last year that some school committee members who were teachers swayed one way. Hopefully the November election will clean house.