NORFOLK, Va. - Norfolk Public Schools will require COVID-19 vaccines for employees or they will have to submit to weekly testing.
On Wednesday the School Board unanimously voted to mandate that employees must be fully vaccinated against COVID-19. If they are not, they have to submit to weekly testing beginning no later than January 3, 2022.
In the passed resolution, the School Board cited the continuing pandemic and surging infections from multiple variations of the virus, including the fast-spreading and highly contagious Delta variant. Click here to view the resolution.
Current employees who decline to be vaccinated will be permitted to submit weekly COVID-19 testing results to maintain employment. Exceptions will be made for employees who are unable to undergo vaccination or testing for “legally held valid reasons based on disability or sincerely held religious beliefs," the School Board said.
A release from the school system said, "The resolution authorizes Superintendent Sharon I. Byrdsong to conduct a survey of employees to determine who is vaccinated, to require proof of vaccination, and to establish a process for the submission of weekly COVID-19 test results. Additionally, the resolution authorizes the superintendent to establish a process of warnings and discipline for employees who do not have a legally valid claim for an exemption but refuse to be vaccinated or submit weekly COVID-19 test results."