Fresno City College’s vaccine vote made one day after drop date. Can students get refunds?

When State Center Community College trustees decided Monday to mandate the COVID-19 vaccine at all campuses, they did so one day after the drop date, meaning students could no longer get a full refund if they chose to drop out of school to avoid immunization.

Student Filiberto Casillas Jr. said he does not want to be vaccinated and was frustrated to learn that the tuition he paid for by driving for Lyft might be forfeited forever.

“It was no simple task to ensure both my units and textbooks were paid for by the beginning of the semester,” Casillas said. “The fact that SCCCD did not require the vaccine at the time was one of the main reasons I decided to continue taking courses.”

Casillas is taking classes at Fresno City College this semester, where about 35% of classes are in-person or hybrid, according to FCC spokesperson Kathy Bonilla. Reedley, Clovis, and Madera Community Colleges are also part of the State Center Community College District.

Casillas said he understands the district is trying to protect students and staff but believes “there is no doubt the district benefited from not requiring vaccines at the beginning of the semester.”

He said UC and CSU students who did not want to follow their campuses’ vaccine mandate were likely taking transfer courses at community colleges until the mandate was lifted.

“I am not saying the district’s initial motive is purely profit-based,” he said. “If the decision was made with the student’s safety in mind, however, then those who wish to step back and respect SCCCD’s decision should be allowed to receive a full refund.

“Unfortunately, my decision to not get vaccinated yet is affecting my future as a college student.”

Still time for refund policy changes

Board President Annalisa Perea said the board doesn’t intend to leave the refund/drop policy as-is. The deadline to drop in-person was Aug. 20 at 5 p.m., and dropping online could have been done until Aug. 22 at 11:59 p.m. The vote to mandate the vaccine happened on Aug. 23.

“We will be exploring alternate solutions for currently enrolled students and reviewing and revising withdrawal policies,” she told The Bee.

She expects updates from the administration at the Sept. 7 and Oct. 5 meetings. Vaccine requirements will go into effect Oct. 15, with religious and medical exemptions available.

“The District Office and College Incident Response Teams are currently addressing these details and ask for your patience as we work through the implementation plan,” said district spokesperson Lucy Ruiz on Thursday. “This planning will be done with the broadest consultation, therefore, some aspects, some decisions and some processes will take time to develop.”

SCCCD special meeting

Casillas said he was not aware the board would be holding a meeting to mandate the COVID-19 vaccine.

The special meeting required 24 hours advance notice to not violate Brown Act rules, California’s laws regarding open public meetings. The agenda was posted on Aug. 18, and the meeting was supposed to happen on Aug. 20 at 4 p.m.

But the district encountered Zoom problems when an unexpected flood of people tried to tune in. The meeting was set as a regular meeting at the time, which caps the number of attendees.

The chancellor, legal counsel, and other leaders took about 45 minutes to discuss whether to go on with the meeting, potentially leaving about 400 of the 700 members of the public out, or to quickly change the format to a webinar, which would allow more people in but would require a link change, potentially confusing people and making the meeting inaccessible. That could have also potentially violated the Brown Act. Leadership also discussed rescheduling the meeting for a later date, so another link could go out with time for the public to see it.

Ultimately, trustees rescheduled the meeting, posting a new link on Aug. 21 and meeting on Aug. 23 at 4 p.m.

Trustees heard mostly from district employees and the public about whether they supported the vaccine mandate before trustees voted 5-2 to require it. Trustees Richard Caglia and Bobby Kahn voted “no.” The outcome went against Chancellor Doug Houston’s preference for waiting and continuing the mask mandate, re-establishing social distancing, and continuing vaccine incentives, such as bookstore vouchers.

According to the district, 535 participants joined the Zoom webinar on Aug. 23, and more than 1,000 watched the live YouTube stream, which had not been an option for the public before.

Caglia, who voted no, told The Bee he wasn’t aware at the time of the vote that it may affect students who wanted to drop. He voted “no” because he also preferred the chancellor’s proposal.

But he also expects the drop policy to be changed because of the mandate.

“Students should be confident in the fact that the district is going to do everything they can within their power to be flexible with as many solutions as possible to the problems they may come across,” he said.

The Education Lab is a local journalism initiative that highlights education issues critical to the advancement of the San Joaquin Valley. It is funded by donors. Read more from The Bee’s Education Lab at our website.

This story was originally published August 30, 2021 at 5:00 AM.