The Santa Barbara Unified School District reportedly plans to place unvaccinated employees on unpaid leave.
“We do have a handful of employees who have declined to become vaccinated, and they will be placed on unpaid leave beginning Nov. 1,” Camie Barnwell, chief of district communications, said in a report at keyt.com.
The News-Press emailed Ms. Barnwell on Thursday and Friday for confirmation, but there was no response. She couldn’t be reached by phone Friday evening.
According to a district website, 91.9% of its staff is vaccinated. That equals 1,547 employees.
That site also said vaccinations are in progress for 2.3% or 39 employees.
The district is requiring all staff to be vaccinated unless they qualify for exemptions for medical or religious reasons. According to the website, 5.3% or 90 employees are requesting exemptions or deferrals. And the district is waiting for a response from 0.4% or seven of its employees.
The district’s vaccination numbers were described as “cumulative data of Oct. 21, 2021” and were represented at COVID-19 Report No. 30 at Tuesday’s school board meeting. You can find all of the district’s reports at go.boarddocs.com/ca/sbunified/board.nsf/public#. Then search for “vaccinations.”
Besides the district staff, the report addressed figures among students. The district found that among secondary students, 33.9% or 3,124 have been vaccinated. The district is waiting for a response from 66.1% or 6,091 students.
According to the data, there were 0.5% or 15 positive COVID-19 cases found among all students who were tested.
email: dmason@newspress.com
