Board attorney: Vaccine mandate applies to WCPS

If the federal vaccine mandate for businesses with more than 100 employees remains in effect, come January, all Wayne County Public Schools employees will have to be vaccinated — or adhere to strict testing and masking requirements — if they want to keep their jobs.

Board of Education attorney Richard Schwartz told board members in a special-called meeting Friday that the announcement by the Biden Administration to require vaccines will apply to school districts and to some charter schools.

Those who choose not to get a vaccine must be tested weekly and will be required to wear a mask in buildings or in vehicles where other people are present, according to the new OSHA measure, which is “designed to minimize the transmission of COVID-19 in the workplace.”

After an hour and a half in executive session to begin the special meeting, board members returned to the public session and added an item to its agenda — “report from the closed session on the new OSHA standard.”

Schwartz said the standard includes “binding requirements” that are “designed to protect unvaccinated employees of large employers from the risk of contracting COVID in the workplace.”

Schwartz said that the Department of Labor through the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) made the announcement of the “emergency temporary standard” Thursday night. The item was then published in the Federal Register Friday morning, which means the clock is now ticking toward the compliance date of Jan. 4.

Schwartz said that because North Carolina is one of 26 states that has a state-approved OSHA plan, the state Department of Labor will have “to review this and then has 15 days to respond to this.”

“North Carolina is obligated to implement a rule that is at least as stringent as the new federal standard,” he said.

Schwartz added that because North Carolina has a state-approved OSHA plan, state and local government employees are included in the standard.

“This will be binding upon all school systems in North Carolina and all charter schools that have more than 100 employees,” he said.

The standard required covered employers to “develop, implement and enforce a mandatory COVID vaccination policy” or they can adopt a policy that allows employees to either get vaccinated or to agree to weekly testing and wearing a facemask at work.

Schwartz said that the standard includes a number of actions the board will be required to take, including:

Get proof of vaccination status
Maintain records of proof of vaccination status.
Enforce the vaccination policy or the weekly testing and facemask requirement.

“We are going to have to maintain a roster of each employee’s vaccination status,” Schwartz said.

The district is also required “to support vaccination” by offering employees reasonable paid time off to get their first and second doses and for “potential side effects after getting those doses,” the attorney said.

“We are going to have to remove from the workplace any employee who has a positive COVID diagnosis, which we are doing anyway,” Schwartz said.

In addition to the district’s policy, Wayne County Public Schools is also required to provide employees with “information about the vaccines themselves and their efficacy, their safety and the benefits of being vaccinated by providing the CDC document ‘Key Things to Know about COVID-19 Vaccines.’”

Schwartz added that employees will have to be informed that there are “criminal penalties for knowingly providing false information or documentation in connection with any of this.”

Employers will have 30 days to comply with the new standard, Schwartz said, with the vaccination requirements kicking in after 60 days, which is Jan. 4.

Board member Wade Leatham asked Schwartz about religious and health exemptions. He said there was no mention of such provisions in the fact sheet he read to the board.

“The religious exemptions for vaccines have been failing in the courts,” he said. “People have been claiming religious exemptions and not having much success in the court system.”

Schwartz said he had not had time to go through the entire standard, which was just released Friday morning, so he did not know for sure if exemptions were discussed.

Leatham also asked about natural immunity.

“I have not seen that in the summary,” he said. “The latest information from the CDC is that they have determined that the vaccines are more effective than natural immunity.”

The board took no action on the information and did not discuss why the conversation about the order was held in closed session.