Can Districts Mandate Employee Vaccinations?

Legal Brief

Ever since the COVID-19 vaccination became widely available, I have grown accustomed to receiving calls from local superintendents on how to deal with the occasional employee with an objection to receiving the vaccination.

So when a superintendent contacted me in late spring to discuss an employee with an objection to the coronavirus vaccine, I expected a pretty routine conversation.

It turned out to be anything but. The employee was a school nurse, and she was objecting to administering the vaccine to students. While it’s not typical for a school nurse to handle vaccinations, in this small school district in Kentucky she was pitching in to assist the local (and small) county health department. She sincerely believed students should not receive COVID vaccinations, even with parental permission.