When Lakeside Union School District Board President Andrew Hayes heard that the San Diego Union School District (SDUSD) was requiring students to be vaccinated against COVID-19 or be relegated to independent study, he knew immediately that it was improper.
“I thought ‘that can't be the sole option’ because, under the state education code, you can't force students into independent study,” Hayes told the Southern California Record. “That can't be your default solution but that appears to be what it was.”
SDUSD has since been sued by the coalition of 30,000 activist parents, Let Them Choose, and, as a result, the mandate was struck down.
“It gives school districts a little bit of clarity,” Hayes said. “There are still many, many, many more questions that I have and I know that every school district has but I think the ruling is a step in the right direction for school districts that want to make sure they keep, retain, and even gain local control.”
On Dec. 20, San Diego Superior Court Judge John Meyer decided that it is the state legislature, not school districts, that have authority to mandate coronavirus vaccinations among students 16 years and older without a personal belief exemption.
“This decision certainly has changed the dynamics in this debate because what we were seeing before was school districts all around the state feeling nervous about vaccine mandates and not understanding or having clarity on what going above and beyond the law would be,” Hayes said.
The Lakeside Union Board of Trustees passed a resolution prohibiting a vaccine mandate, which will prevent them from becoming the next school district that Let Them Choose sues.
Another school board that has passed a resolution against mandating COVID-19 inoculations is Ramona Unified School District in Eastern San Diego County.
“We passed a resolution on December 16 and that was right around the same time that the judge ruled that San Diego Unified’s mandate was not legal and that they needed to hold it back and that's because what San Diego Unified did is go above and beyond the law,” Hayes said.
The resolution, which passed unanimously, states that the Lakeside Union school district will not implement a vaccine mandate ahead of the state.
“I want to support the academic success of our students so they can get a job, go to college, and do whatever they want with their lives,” Hayes added. “I was educated in Lakeside schools. I got a great education. I want the students in the district to get the same quality education I got when I was there and it's not my job to tell them whether they should or shouldn't get vaccines. That's not my role. It's not my jurisdiction. It's not my realm and I shouldn't have to do it as a school board member.”