NORTHAMPTON — The School Committee is planning to vote Thursday night on a COVID-19 vaccine mandate that would apply to public school teachers and staff.
The mandate would become effective Oct. 22 and would allow for medical and religious exemptions, according to an agenda item for the 6:45 p.m. virtual meeting.
Under state regulations, masks are required at all schools statewide until a district can demonstrate that 80% of eligible students and staff have received the vaccine. After an 80% vaccination rate is achieved, those who are vaccinated will be allowed to go without masks.
The city’s online COVID-19 dashboard shows that 69% of eligible residents are fully vaccinated. For the period between Aug. 19 and Sept. 1, the incidence rate of the virus in unvaccinated people was nearly 10 times higher than in those who have been vaccinated, and unvaccinated people were nearly three times more likely to be hospitalized.
Also on Thursday night, the committee is scheduled to hold its first reading of a new policy that would ban “symbols of hate” on school grounds, and create a new process for reporting incidents of bias.
A “symbol of hate” is defined as “a symbol, image, or object that expresses animus on the basis of” a protected status, such as race, sex, religion, gender identity, disability, pregnancy, genetic information and more. The policy specifically applies to the Confederate flag, swastikas and nooses, but other symbols could be banned as well, depending on the circumstances.
The ban allows for the use of the symbols in educational materials.
A separate vote is planned to authorize Mayor David Narkewicz to enter preliminary negotiations for a new contract with Superintendent John Provost. The School Committee ratified a five-year contract for Provost in April 2017, which included a salary of up to $176,900 in the final year.
The link to join Thursday night’s Zoom meeting is https://us06web.zoom.us/j/84985825048. Use the meeting ID 849 8582 5048 and passcode 496956.
Brian Steele can be reached at bsteele@gazettenet.com.