Fresno-area parents, students protest Newsom’s COVID mandates. ‘I’m the parent, not you’

Holding signs declaring “I’m the parent, not you,” and waving the Don’t Tread on Me Gadsden flag, more than 200 Fresno-area parents, students and teachers rallied outside the offices of public health officials on Monday, part of a statewide protest criticizing Gov. Gavin Newsom’s student coronavirus vaccination mandate.

Robert English, a 15-year-old student in Madera County, joined Monday’s protest with his family. He said the vaccine shouldn’t be required to attend school.

“I just think it should be free of mind,” he said. “I should be able to choose if I get a shot or not.”

Clovis teacher Daniel Samarin attended the protest and said he was concerned about the government requiring the new vaccine for children, saying “more and more liberties” (are) starting to be taken away from people.”

“Personally, I’m vaccinated, but the mandates keep changing. they keep moving the goal post, and they’ve gotten to the point where they’re going to enforce vaccination on children,” Samarin said at the protest. “Personally, I’m more concerned on what the future holds, what else are they going to take away or what else are they going to enforce?”

“I wanted to support my own freedom to choose; what’s best for my children.” Clovis Unified parent Marcy Perez told the Education Lab on Monday.

Nearly 83% of Clovis students were in class Monday, the day hundreds of parents around California were expected to keep their children home to protest Gov. Gavin Newsom’s student coronavirus vaccination mandate.

CUSD spokesperson Kelly Avants described Monday’s school absences as “a small uptick” compared to a typical day for a district of about 43,000 students.

By comparison, about 90% of Clovis students were in school Monday, Oct. 11, and 91% attended Monday, Oct. 4.

It’s unclear how many of Monday’s absences were due to the vaccine protest.

Fresno’s Central Unified reported 94% of the district’s 15,773 students were in class Monday, which was actually a slight increase compared to a week earlier when 92% of students made it to school, according to district spokesperson Gilbert Magallon.

In Fresno Unified schools, about 83% of the district’s 70,000 students were in class Monday. By comparison, a week earlier, about 85% of the student body made it to school, FUSD spokesperson Nikki Henry said.

California teacher vaccination requirement goes into effect

Newsom’s vaccine requirement sparked anger from many parents when it was announced earlier this month. In the weeks following the announcement, many Fresno and Clovis-area parents expressed frustration.

Some urged school boards to defy state COVID-19 mandates, including Newsom’s teacher vaccination requirement, which went into effect Friday.

As of Friday, about 64% of Clovis Unified staff had been vaccinated.

“We have not had any employees who have resigned citing the state’s testing or vaccination requirement,” CUSD spokesperson Kelly Avants told the Ed Lab.

About 75% of Central Unified School District staffers were fully vaccinated as of Friday.

Supporters of the vaccine mandates note schools already require immunizations for several infectious diseases, and the coronavirus vaccination is simply the latest. Some supporters also have said protesters have received too much attention and noted that most of the country supports vaccination mandates.

“I think one of the concerns is the amount of time taken to research and implement this vaccine,” Samarin said. “And so a lot of those other vaccines have gone through rigorous testing before they were implemented and required for children.”

Clovis parents have been particularly vocal at school board meetings, urging the school board to ignore mask-wearing and vaccination requirements. Some on the school board have said, while they believe in the science behind the vaccines, they don’t support government immunization requirements.

“I think it’s an overreach of Governor Newsom,” Perez said.

But thousands of parents like Katie Jerkovich remain concerned over the potential long-term effects of the vaccine, despite the FDA’s interim approval of the Pfizer vaccine for those 12 and up.

“Everyone needs to take a pause and slow down,” said Jerkovich, a Fresno Unified parent. “More research needs to be done.”

Leading health and medical experts have said the vaccines are safe and effective. More than 403 million doses of the vaccine have been distributed since December last year.

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. Learn about The Bee’s Education Lab here.

This story was originally published October 18, 2021 at 1:46 PM.