COVID-19 vaccination mandates may be coming soon to more Valley colleges.
Trustees with the five-site State Center Community College District will hold a special meeting Friday to consider whether to require vaccinations for all who would come to any of its campuses or facilities.
Two resolutions are on the agenda, one of which would require students, staff, and others to either show proof of vaccination or a recognized exemption for sincerely held religious beliefs and medical conditions. The chancellor would still have the option to determine whether to require mandatory testing for unvaccinated people as an alternative to requiring vaccinations.
The second resolution would allow the chancellor to require face coverings for those on campus, physical distancing, remote work, and virtual learning, and give him the authority to establish vaccination requirements.
The meeting will be at 1 p.m. Friday and will be held virtually on Zoom: https://scccd.zoom.us/j/92939112934
State Center, which was on virtual learning last year, was reopening some classes to in-person learning. But the current surge in COVID-19 cases in the Valley and among State Center students and staff, and the increased contagiousness of the delta variant of the coronavirus prompted the board to consider the vaccination mandate, which is already in effect at University of California and California State University campuses.
Related Story: Fresno State, All Other CSU and UC Campuses to Require COVID-19 Vaccine
The district’s current mitigation measures include:
- Mandatory employee reporting of vaccination status
- Require refresher training for employees on COVID-19
- Require universal indoor masking for all employees and students, vaccinated and unvaccinated
- Increase physical distancing / use of staggered schedules and remote work to reduce on-campus and workplace contact
- Provide incentives to students to get vaccinated
The district’s colleges and centers are Fresno City College, Clovis Community College, Reedley College, Madera Community College, and the Oakhurst community college center.
