When a School Banned Unvaxxed Athletes

by The Gal from 1955

Witnessed at Board of Education meetings for a school district in upstate New York.

The meetings include a list of resolutions to approve together in one vote. Assumed is that Board members have seen, and sometimes discussed, the resolutions in advance.

In early October 2021, one of these resolutions called for barring any student who had not gotten the COVID vaccine from playing certain sports. The Board could have mechanically approved it with the rest of the list. But it chose to do so separately. Why? Emphasis? Recognition?

Before the vote, one Board member , A., suggested holding community conversations about the requirements. Another said, "It's unfair to require students to get the vaccine without requiring teachers to get it." Was she suggesting students should retain a right teachers still had? Or was she urging the Board to deprive teachers of the same right they were about to deprive the students?

In most votes, Board members grunt their assent. But this tine, five of the six members present raised their hands to the full height. Why? Enthusiasm? Unambiguity?

But one Board member, B., sat with her hand pointing upward but her elbow on the table. "B.," asked the minute taker. "Are you going to vote?" And B. moved her hand up slightly.

Had B. hoped to get away with abstaining?

At least nobody preceded their vote with an "I'm serving my country, my identity groups, and humanity" recital. At least nobody clapped after the vote.

Another topic at that meeting was the District's mission/vision for now through 2025. This included providing an "inclusive" culture and "embracing diversity."
Late in schoolboard meetings comes a time for for comments by the general public. It is almost never used. This time, as usual, the audience section was mostly empty. But two of the people who were in it spoke. And both spoke about the vaccine mandate.

One repeated the suggestion that the District meet the community about this matter. But the other, C., a parent, observed that with vaccine requirements, contrary to the mission/vision, "you're excluding people."

In addition, C. asked whether the mandate applies to "students who have already had COVID." Furthermore, she continued, "Right now it's only certain sports. But next will it be" school plays, the prom, graduation, recess?
Both A. and administrators thanked C. for participating.
"I'm not criticizing anybody for their thoughts," said B., adding she was for "choice." She also pointed out that "the vaccinated can also get COVID."
Somebody asked the Student Representative to the Board, a High School senior, what students have been saying in this matter. He answered that, as far as he knows from video chats, a minority of seniors have refused. vaccinations, and they are "banding together." In addition, he knows some seniors who have played sports like basketball all their lives but are dropping out of sports rather than be vaccinated.

Another thing that struck him is that in this issue, the divide between students is "black and white," with neither side compromising.
So ended that schoolboard meeting.
A reporter covering the meeting defiantly left anything about vaccinations out of the article about the meeting.

In the late October meeting, a high administrator announced she had held a "successful" video conference with citizens about the matter. What does "successful" mean here?

In an early November, during the public comment section, D., whom the District contracts to coach sports, said, "I was very taken aback when the County decided to mandate vaccination for athletes. Can you reconsider the decision?"

D. wondered whether get enough players to fill his teams. He expressed concern about the effect on the excluded students. Would it hurt their readiness to play in future years? "Think about how kids will be impacted," he said. If you miss even one year, how long will it take to catch up? Will you miss out on college scholarships? I also think we've had a lot of success in limiting COVID. As a teacher, I try to do what's best for the kids. And what's best for the kids is to play ball."

Somebody asked the Student Representative for an update on this matter. He said there was an online petition from students asking the administration to rescind the order. The unvaccinated students are "very upset. If people were going to get vaccinated, they would have done so by now."

The Student Representative gave his reason for not signing the petition as "I want to stay neutral."

The administrators and Board members said they had not seen the petition.
At the next Board meeting, in mid-November, the Student Representative reported that a new petition against vaccination requirements had started. Some students had pointed out that most schools the district plays against did not have vaccination requirements.

Several winter sports teams had noticeably fewer players than usual, staff acknowledged.

In articles on November meetings, the reporter added a few sentences about people wanting the decree rescinded, partly to give "recognition " to D. and C.
Throughout these meetings the Superintendent emphasized her commitment to following government rules and guidelines, though she also encouraged discussion, acknowledged there are breakthrough cases, and once said she hoped the restrictions were temporary.

That is pretty much how the situation stood at the end of the calendar year.
Note--A., D., and the Student Representative are male, everybody else mentioned is female. B. and C. are African-American. Everybody else mentioned is white.
(Of course, unfortunately, whenever anyone raises the possibility of the restrictions being only temporary, we must remember that the purpose of treating COVID like a pandemic plague is to establish permanent vaccination requirements, for all ages, for just about everything. Concern about next year or college scholarships is moot. After all, colleges are expected to impose vaccination requirements as a requirement for admission and graduation.

In addition, the observation that the best thing for athletic students is to participate in athletics can be used to pressure such students to fall for the needle. They will be told that for the health benefits of exercise, they should do what it takes to play sports, even if it means injecting their veins with substances that can harm their long term health.

One thing this makes clear is the need to organize alternate sports opportunities for unvaccinated students. To give them exercise without falling for the needle and keep them in practice for if they ever are allowed back in mainstream sports.)