By LILY TINOCO | Reporter
The Palisades Charter High School Board of Trustees met on Tuesday, October 12, to discuss a number of issues, including a potential vaccine mandate, and provide general updates.
The board reviewed its meeting format in response to California Assembly Bill 361, which was signed on September 17 and made amendments to the Brown Act. The Brown Act allowed boards to hold remote meetings during a proclaimed state of emergency—under AB 361, local educational agencies are not obligated to provide remote meeting access, unless proven necessary with a proclaimed state of emergency.
Discussions took place regarding technological issues and costs that may prohibit teleconferencing in the future, including insufficient microphones for members and public comments, poor audio quality due to microphone limitations, and additional costs for hardware purchases.
One attendee argued that discontinuing teleconferencing raises an issue of inequity.
“We have … approximately 3,000 kids … we cannot accommodate the amount of people who may want to show up,” the attendee said. “People can’t hear what’s going on, they can’t see what’s going on and … our board meeting starts at 5 o’clock. Most people get off at 4:30, 5 o’clock maybe. Palisades is not close, especially not to the families that travel.
“So an equity issue … exists. I think that we need to figure out a mechanism to be able to reach our stakeholders … when we’re on Zoom, we have way more people listening in, hearing where the money’s going, hearing what’s going on … let’s not push the people away … we need to figure out how to make this happen.”
The board acknowledged there is interest from stakeholders to continue streaming the meetings and requested an accurate budget to consider different options. They elected to take a vote at the next meeting.
The board then discussed an item that had been previously tabled: Pali High’s proposed resolution requiring COVID-19 vaccinations for all students who access in-person instructional programs who are 12 years of age and older—in line with a mandate that was passed by the Los Angeles Unified School District Board of Education Thursday, September 9.
The item was not on the agenda for a vote but the board opened the discussion.
“LAUSD did pass a mandate, we’ve been trying to think about how does that apply to Palisades Charter High School … we make our own decisions about how we’re going to approach this,” Principal Dr. Pam Magee said. “We can create our own policy if we choose to do that, we can follow the LAUSD policy or we can follow the governor’s policy.”
One attendee said, “I’m trying to understand why … [we’re] prolonging [this]. We know what our choices are.” Board members expressed they would like the time to deliberate.
Meanwhile, submitted public comments revealed opposing views.
“I believe vaccine mandates are the most effective tool to keep our students, staff and community safe,” Michelle Ashley wrote. “We are required to vaccinate for many communicable diseases. COVID vaccines should not be exempted from this requirement … PCHS’ policy should follow LAUSD’s lead.”
Another individual pleaded that the school not mandate COVID-19 vaccinations.
“Please support everyone’s ability to do their own risk-benefit analysis and make their own choice,” Karen Koay wrote. “Those who choose to vaccinate are, by their own definition, protected. Please respect each individual’s personal health situation.”
The Board of Trustees will revisit and vote on the topic at a special meeting Tuesday, November 16.
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