Board Policy 6145.1, a new San Mateo Union High School District health mandate, took effect on Nov. 15. It requires that all unvaccinated students who participate in extracurricular activities get tested weekly for COVID-19.
“Our job is to educate and keep everyone safe and healthy,” said Board Trustee Robert Griffin. “I always thought it was important that everyone get vaccinated. That’s my belief, and I’m trying to take care of the welfare of everybody in the district.”
In an Oct. 28 open-session SMUHSD Board Meeting, the Board of Trustees voted 5-0 in favor of the policy. It permits extracurricular participation only if the student is fully vaccinated or if they have submitted a negative test from within the week of the activity. Students are recommended to test routinely to anticipate and prepare for impromptu events.
“We can’t mandate testing of all of our students [because] there’s no compulsion to be tested,” said Superintendent Kevin Skelly during the Oct. 28 meeting. “Because extracurriculars are a privilege, not a right, we can make [testing] an expectation for our students.”
Sophomore Maya Efron supports the protocol.
“It’s the bare minimum,” Efron said. “It’s pretty fair considering that, for a lot of extracurricular activities, people take their masks off, and I don’t want to get COVID-19 if I’m doing an extracurricular. [Our student body] is mostly vaccinated, so I don’t think there’s too much of a problem.”
Many vaccinated Aragon students may feel as if the policy doesn’t apply to them since they will not be required to test regularly.
Still, others strongly oppose the regulations. Several community members raised objections during the Board’s decision process.
“[Policy decisions] keep dividing us up,” Griffin said. “We’ve got people who believe that ‘[Administrators] can’t tell me what to do’… and we’ve got people who say ‘We all should get vaccinated.’ The fact that we passed [the protocol] doesn’t mean we’ve solved the problem. It just means we’ve moved a step closer [to a certain outcome].”
The policy has subsequently helped identify COVID-19 cases in the district, according to Skelly. Despite this, however, some may question the new constraints.
“I would think that people who are unvaccinated consider it their right to remain unvaccinated,” said senior Julien Darve. “They might resent this [new policy] because it forces them to make decisions about their health.”
Other students are also thinking about the policy’s fairness.
“[There is] a problem where a lot of students who were unable to get the vaccine are immunodeficient or have a different medical condition, and as a result they may be penalized for it,” said senior Sooki Beeley. “It’s better to just test everybody so as not to single out certain groups.”
Unvaccinated students involved in extracurriculars may feel disproportionately targeted because they must meet additional prerequisites to gain the same access to events as their vaccinated counterparts. On the other hand, some see this disparity as an incentive to get vaccinated, which is stressed further because the mandate covers all school-related activities outside a graded class or regular school day, such as dances, mock trial meets, theater rehearsals and athletics.
All Aragon community members can visit the school’s testing site on Thursdays in the theater lobby between 8 a.m. and 2 p.m. for a free PCR test.
“COVID-19 tests are easy and simple,” said junior Stephanie Huerta. “I love the fact that, in three minutes, you can go in, get out and you’re ready to go. Providing access to everyone is the best way to ensure a safe environment.”
Administrations will remind students to take COVID-19 tests, but if students fail to supply their statuses to health aides prior to their events, they will not be able to participate. Using rosters for extracurriculars, health aides will provide activity supervisors with a list of their students who should not be allowed entry. The reason for refusal is kept confidential as listed students may be added for various reasons such as suspension or contact with the virus. This helps to maintain the privacy of participating students.
“I don’t know who is unvaccinated and it’s not my place to monitor who can’t come,” said Aragon Robotics faculty adviser Craig Sipple. “It’s not much different because we haven’t had a dip in attendance, and I haven’t heard kids talk about testing.”
With the highest vaccination rate amongst the SMUHSD high schools, 93%, the majority of Aragon students do not need to test. However, any student or staff member, including those who do not have vaccines, can acquire tests from their doctors, a community site, another SMUHSD school, an at-home kit or Aragon.
