COVID-19 Vaccination of School Employees

Adult school employees are included in Phase 1B of Ohio’s vaccination plan, which is expected to begin on February 1, 2021. Phase 1B vaccination efforts prioritize employees of school districts that intend to be in or return to in-person or hybrid learning by March 1, 2021. To identify those school districts, the Ohio Department of Education created a Commitment to Return to In-Person or Hybrid Learning Form (“Commitment Form”), which is available on ODE’s Reset and Restart website.

Superintendents must sign and submit the Commitment Form to schools@odh.ohio.gov by Monday, January 18, 2021 to be prioritized during Phase 1B. Superintendents who submit the Commitment Form are expected to indicate the number of staff they believe will take the vaccine and whether a community partner has been identified to help administer the vaccines to school personnel.

Does your district’s plan meet the definition of “in-person” or “hybrid” learning?

Most likely yes, as long as it includes some aspect of in-person learning. The Commitment Form provides the following definitions:

• In-Person Learning: a district is in an “in-person learning” model if “all students have the option of in-person instruction, even if schedules are somewhat adjusted.”
• Hybrid Learning: a district is in a “hybrid learning” model if it is using “a mix of in-person and remote education.” Hybrid models come in many forms, such as “two consecutive (or nonconsecutive) days a week in-person, alternate weeks in-person, or selected grade ranges or schools as fully remote or fully in-person.” A district may be using a hybrid model even if “some grade levels are entirely in-person or entirely remote.”

Does a superintendent need the board of education’s approval to sign the Commitment Form? 

No, unless the district wishes to change a learning model that was previously approved by the board before the superintendent signs and submits the Commitment Form to ODE (for example, if the board previously approved a fully remote model, but the district now wishes to transition to hybrid or in-person learning).

Can an employer require employees to get the COVID-19 vaccine? 

In short, yes. The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) issued guidance advising that the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”) does not prohibit employers from requiring employee vaccinations, as long as the employer first determines that an unvaccinated employee would “pose a direct threat to the health or safety of individuals in the workplace” (see Question K.5).  Despite this guidance, a school district will likely have an obligation to collectively bargain with the applicable labor union before adopting such a rule. Additionally, if individual employees object to a vaccine requirement for disability or religious reasons, the district would be required to engage in an interactive process and provide reasonable accommodations to qualifying employees.

While school districts may have the option to mandate employee vaccinations, whether a school district should require vaccinations is a thornier issue to be carefully considered by the board in consultation with legal counsel.

How will you count the number of employees willing to be vaccinated? 

As described above, districts that complete the Commitment Form will be expected to indicate the number of staff they believe will take the vaccine, which will impact the number of vaccines allotted to the district. One way to calculate this number is through an employee survey. The EEOC has issued guidance advising that the ADA does not prohibit employers from asking employees whether they plan to or have already received the vaccine.

As a reminder, issues related to COVID-19 are fluid and subject to rapid change. Additional information about Coronavirus and the State’s response can be found here.

This communication is intended as general information and should not be relied upon as legal advice. If legal advice is required, please contact any of our attorneys on our cell phones, at (614) 222-8686, or via email.

• Beginning in the 2022-2023 school year, school districts must establish a multi-sensory structured literacy certification process for teachers providing instruction to students enrolled in grades K-3 that aligns with the guidebook developed by the Ohio Dyslexia Committee.

• Educators must obtain professional development in dyslexia instruction (between 6 and 18 clock hours), staggered depending on the grades of students for which the teacher provides instruction:

• • Beginning of 2023-2024 school year-Kindergarten & 1^st grade teachers, including special education teachers

• • Beginning of 2024-2025 school year-2^nd & 3^rd grade teachers, including special education teachers

• • Beginning of 2025-2026 school year-Special education teachers in 4^th through 12^th grades

• Any professional development course completed by a teacher prior to the effective date that is then included on the list of approved courses will count toward the number of instructional hours in approved professional development courses.

• School districts shall do the following:
  • Beginning in the 2022-2023 school year, screen all students for dyslexia who are either enrolled in grades K-3, or who are enrolled in grades 4-6 and whose parent or classroom teacher requests a screening. Each school district shall also screen all students for dyslexia who are enrolled in grades K-6 and transfer into the district or school midyear.

• • Beginning in the 2023-2024 school year, screen all students for dyslexia who are either enrolled in Kindergarten, or who are enrolled in grades 1-6 and whose parent or classroom teacher requests a screening.

• • Identify each student that is at risk of dyslexia based on the student’s results on the tier one screening measure and notify the student’s parent that the student has been identified as being at risk.

• • Monitor the progress of each at-risk student toward attaining grade-level reading and writing skills for up to six weeks. If no progress is observed during the monitoring period, the district or school shall notify the parent of the student and administer a tier two dyslexia screening measure to the student. Tier two screening results must be provided to the student’s parent. If the student is identified as having dyslexia tendencies, the student’s parent must be provided with information about reading development, risk factors for dyslexia, and descriptions for evidence-based interventions. If a student demonstrates markers for dyslexia, the student’s parent must be provided with a written explanation of the district or school’s multi-sensory structured literacy program.

• School districts shall also do the following:
  • Comply with the guidebook regarding best practices and methods for universal screening, intervention, and remediation using a multi-sensory structured literacy program, to be developed not later than December 31, 2021 by the Ohio Dyslexia Committee;

• • Select screening and intervention measures to administer to students from measures identified by ODE, in collaboration with the Ohio Dyslexia Committee;

• • Establish a multidisciplinary team to administer screening and intervention measures and analyze the results of the measures. The team shall include trained and certified personnel and a stakeholder with expertise in the identification, intervention, and remediation of dyslexia; and

• • Report the results of screening measures to ODE.