The unvaccinated children who are 12 years old and younger will go to school in a couple of weeks and I understand that only 70 percent of the employees of the Hamilton County Schools are vaccinated. This is unacceptable.
School board members and the superintendent are responsible for the safety of all these students and they should not have to run the risk of contacting the "Chinese" virus because of contact with unvaccinated adult employees.
It is not the young students' fault if an adult is "afraid of the virus". I don't understand any of the excuses for not getting vaccinated. I really don't care why they don't want to be vaccinated. I just don't want them to give the virus to a child who has no choice whether or not to be vaccinated.
I think every parent and grandparent should insist that everyone inside every school building be vaccinated before their child enters the school or gets on a school bus.
I think all parent organizations such as the PTA, which has always been the greatest advocate for children in this county, should strongly insist that every employee be vaccinated. I think the HCEA and all other professional organizations who advocate for schools should strongly insist that this situation not continue.
Back to the responsible officials. There are probably serious legitimate, legal ramifications if there are unvaccinated adults in a school and there is an outbreak of the virus in young students that are your responsibility. If I were a parent of a child who contracted the virus and the teacher or principal or janitor or cafeteria worker were unvaccinated, I would attempt to sue the school system and the superintendent and the board members both personally and professionally.
The above scenario should give you all whatever cover you need to make a decision to somehow get the employees vaccinated or keep them out of the buildings.
I don't know what, if anything, the County Commission or mayor can do in this situation. It seems as if the State has taken most of their options away. The best role for them to play is probably to just advocate for vaccination of adults in the school system and in county government and support whatever decision the school board and superintendent makes.
Don Loftis
Soddy Daisy