Fresno community college students can delay COVID vaccinations. Here’s what’s new

State Center Community College students who do not want to get the COVID-19 vaccine will likely get to finish out the semester after trustees voted Friday to extend the vaccination deadline, and college presidents vowed to give students more independent study options.

The board voted to make the vaccine mandate effective on Nov. 15, extending the original date by a month. Trustees voted in August to have the mandate go into effect on Oct. 15 but realized it would place students who did not want to get the vaccine through hardships.

Extending the deadline through Nov. 15 will put students who receive financial aid past the 60% completion rate, and they will not have to pay back their funds if they choose to drop.

The extension is only for students. Employees must still show proof of vaccination or have a religious or medical exemption by the original date.

Although the end of the semester isn’t until Dec. 10, college presidents are working with faculty to figure out ways for students to complete their courses without dropping, said Fresno City College President Carole Goldsmith.

“The vice presidents and the deans across the district have been working with faculty leadership, and being able to work with a student who has a health exemption, or a religious exemption, or some type of problem that would not let them finish the semester is nothing new for faculty,” she said. “We would do independent studies or other sorts of opportunities to allow students to complete.”

The newest resolution adds on twice-weekly COVID-19 testing for those who file an exemption form. It also relaxes State Center COVID rules for athletics instead of letting teams follow CCCAA guidelines.

The resolution passed with Trustee Bobby Kahn voting “no” and Trustee Richard Caglia abstaining.

Special meeting

Several speakers, including State Center Federation of Teachers President Keith Ford, said no one was given enough time to look over the new proposals because only 24-hours notice was given before the special meeting.

He told trustees he was exhausted because he and his chief negotiator put over 100 hours in working on a memorandum of understanding in response to the original resolution, “having both tear- and rage-filled discussions with our members and try and keep everyone focused and hopeful by holding several town hall and general membership meetings.”

“Those 100-plus hours have been rendered virtually pointless by the resolutions before us today,” he said. “Not that either of them is poorly intentioned, but their very presence serves to undermine all of the hard work that we’ve been doing to try and keep the lights on, both on campuses and in people’s eyes.”

Along with the resolution that passed, interim Chancellor Doug Houston asked trustees to consider his own resolution, which would have allowed COVID-19 testing as an alternative to getting the vaccine. Several trustees expressed disappointment in Houston’s proposal, which was accompanied by a presentation, but failed to be run through the proper ad-hoc committee. Some trustees wondered if the health department would have approved testing as an alternate.

“With all due respect to you, Dr. Houston, you keep saying, ‘my resolution, my resolution,’ and that is kind of bothersome to me because we are a collective body, and you are sort of splitting us,” Trustee Magdalena Gomez said.

Dr. John Zweifler, a physician with the Fresno County Public Health Department, took a turn during the public comment portion of the meeting to clarify the department’s stance. He said the county is still seeing a surge of people being hospitalized. There are 384 people in the hospital with COVID-19 as of Friday in Fresno County.

“I think it’s important to keep in mind that testing does not do anything to stop the virus from circulating,” he said. If you want to reduce the impact of a pandemic, then we need to have more people vaccinated. That is the path forward to ending this pandemic.”

In his presentation, Houston said of about 45 California Community Colleges that have vaccine mandates, just under half are allowing testing as an alternative. In addition, California K-12 schools and the City of Fresno allow for testing.

In the previous 30 days, 26 employees (about 1% of the total employee population) and 33 students (less than half a percent of on-site students) tested positive for COVID-19. That’s about the same as the 30 days before this, he said. Transmission is not happening on-site, he added. About 1,500 employees have self-reported being vaccinated before the due date.

Trustee Deborah Ikeda said she did not vote for the testing alternative because of the health department recommendation but also because testing would deplete much of the district’s COVID relief funds.

“Logistically and financially, this becomes very expensive,” she 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 September 24, 2021 at 2:15 PM.