Pali High Extends COVID-19 Vaccine Mandate

By MAGNOLIA LAFLEUR | Reporter

The Palisades Charter High School Board of Trustees voted to delay enforcement of the COVID-19 vaccine mandate for students at its latest meeting on Tuesday, December 14.

The mandate, which required age-eligible students to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 in order to access in-person learning, activities and events on Pali High’s campus, has been extended to align with Los Angeles Unified School District’s newly approved mandate, which requires all charter schools on district property to follow the district’s student vaccination policy beginning fall 2022, Principal Dr. Pam Magee said.

“[Pali High] seeks to take every precaution to ensure the health and safety of our students and staff,” Magee said to the Palisadian-Post. “The extension of the vaccination mandate start date will provide parents and students additional time to make more informed decisions and prevent disruptions to any unvaccinated students’ academic year.”

Magee said the school understands this has been a challenging period with many uncertainties for everyone in the community.

“We appreciate hearing from the community and work to make decisions that are in the best interest of all those the school serves,” she said.

At the board meeting, attendees expressed their frustration when the allotted time to share their public comments was cut from two minutes to one.

“I had a stack of facts and pictures to show them,” parent James Edward Malloy III said to the Post.

Board Chair Dara Williams explained that the shift in time was an attempt to hear as many parents within the designated 30 minutes for public comment.

Malloy, whose son attends Pali High, added that he and other parents have been experiencing “a toxic tone and power tripping, and not an empathetic ear or concern” from the board.

“They are supposed to be our co-stewards in partnership, in our minor children’s education, mental health and socio-emotional well-being and growth,” he said.

“I try to maintain a neutral expression,” Williams said to the Post. “But it’s difficult to keep a straight face when people are saying things that are scientifically untrue. Am I empathetic to the fact that people are worried about their kids getting a vaccination? Yes. But there’s a reason for the mandate and I’m not emphatic to them once a mandate is in place. I didn’t make my decision based on what parents or administration wanted, I looked at the science and mainstream news sources.”

Parents also expressed that they are concerned students will be “forced” out of Pali High if they do not comply with the vaccine mandate, as well as their frustration in the school not allowing religious or personal belief exemptions.

Malloy, like the majority of parents who attended that night and are against the mandate, stressed that to them, this was a non-political issue saying, “like this current mandate issue, our minor children are not Republican or Democratic, they are students, Californians and Americans and they have all rights reserved via their loving parents championing for them all.”

The board’s next meeting is currently scheduled for Tuesday, January 11.