Council Supports Prioritizing Teachers For Covid-19 Vaccine

Following the emotional School Committee public hearing on February 4, where Amherst parents aired their concerns about reopening Amherst Schools, Councilor Cathy Schoen (District 1) worked with School Committee member Kerry Spitzer to draft a resolution to the Governor requesting that teachers be moved up in eligibility for the Covid-19 vaccine. The Governor recently moved teachers and other essential workers down to group 3 of Phase 2 in the vaccine priority protocol, behind 65 year olds and anyone with multiple co-morbidities. The resolution can be read here. The resolution notes that 24 states in the United States are already vaccinating teachers. A similar resolution was expected to be passed by the School Committee on February 9.

In discussion, Councilor Alisa Brewer (at large) stated that she doesn’t support putting teachers back in school without being vaccinated, but she noted that the teachers are not in school now, while grocery store, food pantry, and childcare workers are facing virus exposure in the public now. She felt all public-facing essential workers should be moved up in the queue. Councilor Pat DeAngelis (District 2) also put in a plea for low-wage workers who have no option but to work outside the home. 

Mandi Jo Hanneke (Councilor At-large) said that she has a child in public school who is not thriving in remote schooling. She said she is “convinced” that even if educators are vaccinated, they will not go back to teaching in-person if (all) students are not vaccinated. 

George Ryan (Councilor, District 3) pointed out that, earlier in the meeting, State Representative Mindy Domb stated that there is “not a chance” that the Governor would change his position on vaccine priorities. Accordingly, he said, endorsing this resolution is useless, and the Town should bring the Amherst-Pelham Education Association back to the bargaining table.

Andy Steinberg (Councilor At-large) said the Council should support the School Committee and thus support the children by supporting the resolution. Councilor Shalini Bahl-Milne (District 5) asked what the down side of supporting this resolution would be. Council President Lynn Griesemer regretted that other frontline workers are not included in the resolution, but said it was important to think about the children.

The Council voted 9-4-0 to send the resolution to the Governor. Ryan, Brewer, DeAngelis, and Hanneke voted no.

Editor’s note: The Massachusetts Teachers Association has proposed a pilot program that would enable accelerating vaccinations of Massachusetts teachers. More can be read about that program here and here.