How many Fresno-area students missed school during Monday’s anti-vaccine protests?

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.

Students, families protest Newsom’s COVID mandates

Madera County parent Nichole Furr joined Monday’s protest with her family.

“We are going to be making the choices. Not our government. They’ve made enough horrible choices over this last year,” Furr said.

Her 15-year-old son Robert said he should get to decide whether he takes the vaccine.

“I just think it should be free of mind,” he said.

Furr said she wants the state to reconsider the mandate.

“If this mandate goes through, we’ll yank him out of school,” Furr said. “He won’t be going to public school.”

Some parents were already upset over Newsom’s school mask requirement

Monday’s protest echoes similar parent outrage earlier this year when Newsom implemented a statewide mask-wearing requirement at California schools. Many parents threatened to remove their kids from schools over the requirement.

Some California schools reported significant drops in student enrollment. But while enrollment in local online schools swelled as more parents chose to keep their kids learning from home, overall enrollment in Fresno County’s three largest school districts remains basically the same as last year, according to early data from the districts.

As of late September, Fresno Unified expected to have about 200 fewer students than a year ago, with a projected enrollment of about 70,000 students, Henry said.

In Clovis, about 43,696 students were enrolled as of Friday, up about six students compared to last year, Avants said.

Central Unified gained about 30 students, inching enrollment to 15,773, Magallon said.

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.”

This story was originally published October 18, 2021 at 2:39 PM.