More than 150 SLO County teachers, school staff can get COVID vaccines. This is why
About 170 special education teachers and other employees across San Luis Obispo County schools were invited to receive their first COVID-19 vaccine doses this week, according to the county Office of Education.
The opportunity allows those who work closely with medically fragile students and those unable to wear masks some relief in the midst of a tumultuous year for education.
“It just kind of helps me breathe a little bit easier,” Los Osos Middle School special education teacher Tiff Buckman said. “I know nothing’s ever 100%, though. So we’re still taking all the same precautions, and it doesn’t change anything about our guidelines and what we’re doing in the classroom to keep everybody safe. But it eases a little bit of concern for sure.”
Health and safety measures such as taking students’ temperatures, extra cleaning, extra hand-washing and wearing gloves and face shields have become commonplace in Buckman’s classroom during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Buckman’s five students have moderate to severe disabilities — some are non-verbal, while others are on the autism spectrum — and need a specialized teacher who helps them learn critical life, social and academic skills.
When the coronavirus pandemic first closed schools to in-person instruction in March 2020 and forced classrooms to transition to a fully online format, virtual instruction didn’t work for all students, Buckman said.
“It was pretty interesting,” she said. “A lot of my students can’t attend to a computer. ... It’s difficult for them to attend, really, at all to instruction at times, They need a lot of hands-on activities and visual stimulation. So, trying to do that through a computer was pretty challenging.”
In September 2020, about two weeks into the 2020-2021 school year, special education classrooms such as Buckman’s were allowed to return to in-person classes because of students’ need for hands-on help. Her curriculum includes instruction on subjects including cooking, hand washing and how to cross a street, as well as social interaction skills.
Going back to in-person instruction was “amazing,” Buckman said. “It’s just made such a huge difference for my kiddos. ... I’ve seen so much growth since we’ve been back.”
Buckman, who received her first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine on Monday, said that getting vaccinated “eases a little bit of concern” for her and the parents of the kids she teaches.
“I’m sure it lifts a little worry from everybody,” she said.
COVID-19 vaccines for teachers depend on limited SLO County supply
Buckman and other special education teachers in San Luis Obispo County weren’t always set to get coronavirus vaccines so soon.
As of Thursday, the county Public Health Department is administering coronavirus vaccines to people in Phase 1A and Phase 1B — including health care workers, residents of long-term care facilities and residents 65 and older — by appointment only. But teachers in general have not been given priority for vaccination.
Though vaccination distribution eligibility rapidly changes every week, local school districts have been left largely in the dark about when teachers can finally receive doses.
In a press conference Monday, Gov. Gavin Newsom said that he hoped to share a new school reopening deal with the California State Legislature that would include “a prioritization framework to get our teachers vaccinated.”
However, Newsom acknowledged that, due to vaccine scarcity across the state, schools would likely not reopen to in-person instruction if vaccination were required beforehand.
In San Luis Obispo County, hundreds of teachers and students are back in classrooms, most of them in elementary school or special education classes.
Local schools have reported a total of 450 COVID-19 cases involving students and employees since the start of the 2020-2021 school year, and two North County elementary schools recently temporarily shut down in-person instruction due to spikes in coronavirus cases.
Teachers, district officials excited about coronavirus vaccination
The ability to vaccinate the 170 special education teachers and employees across San Luis Obispo County schools was seen by districts as a small victory in the larger fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I think it’s a wonderful opportunity,” said Jen Gaviola, Paso Robles Joint Unified School District’s deputy superintendent. “It can be a bit scary, during a pandemic, to work with groups of students. So I just honor those teachers who are, and I have so much respect for them.”
“Anything we can do to alleviate stress or fear for our teachers and para educators so they can do what they’ve set out to do — we want to help,” Gaviola continued. “I know we need to be patient — it obviously takes time to get everyone vaccinated. But as soon as we can get more and more people in our educational realm vaccinated, we’re going to see a lot less fear and a lot more comfortable educators return to the classroom.”
And teachers seem to feel the same elation and excitement.
“I was very thrilled when our (human resources) director called me personally on Saturday and said that we’d been approved to get it,” CJ Davis, a special education teacher at Laguna Middle School in San Luis Obispo, said. “So I called that day, made an appointment and got my first vaccine Monday. I was, I am very excited.”
Davis noted that getting her second dose won’t radically change how she conducts her classroom during the pandemic.
She said she’s felt comfortable teaching her four students in person since September 2020 due to the extensive COVID-19 safety measures in place at her school.
“It’s not going to change anything because ... I do what I need to do to teach my kids,” she said. “But I do feel safer.”
