Here’s how Merced schools responded to statewide protest over Newsom vaccination mandate

Merced County school officials say a planned statewide protest Monday against state COVID-19 mandates doesn’t appear to have resulted in a dramatic difference in students attendance for some of the region’s largest districts.

That’s in contrast to other regions of the state. For example, in nearby Fresno some parents vowed to keep their kids home from school over Newsom’s effort to require all students in the state to be vaccinated against the coronavirus.

While school officials said specific numbers wouldn’t be available until later and the information was preliminary, as of Monday morning there were no notable disruptions to student learning.

“Six of our 20 (school districts) have replied and nothing is out of the norm for students and staff,” said Nathan Quevedo, media and communications manager for the Merced County Office of Education, before noon Monday.

Sam Yniguez, communications director for Merced Union High School District, also said no MUHSD schools reported any attendance issues Monday morning. “It’s business as usual,” Yniguez said.

Yniguez said about 78% of the district’s staff is fully vaccinated.

Merced Union High School District, which includes nine campuses, is the largest among 20 school districts in Merced County.

Doug Collins, interim superintendent for Merced City School District, said attendance numbers will be entered by the end of Monday to determine whether the statewide protests had an impact.

“So far, in checking in with principals, we don’t see anything out of the ordinary as far as student absences,” Collins said in an email. “Neither our school sites nor the District Office have received calls from parents notifying us that they are keeping their child home from school as part of the protest.”

Collins added, “We understand that some families have strong emotions around public health measures due to the pandemic. We hope that we can continue working together to do what’s best for students. We know that being in the classroom, with our staff and their peers, is the best place for students to learn and thrive.”

Steve Tietjen, the Merced County superintendent of schools at the Merced County Office of Education, wrote a column published in the Sun-Star on Sunday, asking parents to send their students to school.

Tietjen said the Merced County Office of Education and the school districts in the county don’t have any control over the proposed vaccine mandate.

“The mandate would not apply until COVID-19 vaccines are given full authorization by the Food and Drug Administration,” Tietjen wrote.

Still, some social media posts in local Merced groups voiced support for the protest, with some parents saying they would keep their children home.

“We did not see a significant difference in our overall student attendance today,” wrote Mark Marshall, superintendent of Los Banos Unified School district, in an email to the Sun-Star. “We did, however, have a few parents call in and report that their students were home due to the protest.”

Newsom announced the proposed vaccine mandate on Oct. 1, which it would likely take effect next year, his office announced.

Teachers would have to be vaccinated by the same deadline as students as a condition to keep their jobs.

The COVID-19 shot would join the list of already-required vaccines for students, including measles, mumps and rubella, chicken pox, polio and measles. A 2015 law states students can’t refuse those shots for personal reasons.

“We are all exhausted by this pandemic,” Newsom said in his announcement. “We are exhausted by the seasonality of it. We are exhausted by the variants and mutations.”

This story was originally published October 18, 2021 at 1:33 PM.