MUNICIPAL ELECTION 2021 East Penn School District Democrat Naomi Winch The state sets school vaccination requirements and should continue to do so. Experts at the PA Department of Health are most qualified to guide legislators toward the proper requirements for students and staff. I encourage eligible individuals to get the vaccine as directed by their primary care physicians. The CDC shared, “The most important and effective strategy we have right now to help schools stay open is having high levels of vaccination among students ages 12 years and up, educators, staff and family members. Using multiple prevention strategies ... remains critical to protecting everyone. Prevention strategies include universal masking, physical distancing and ventilation.”

Democrat/ Republican Alisa Bowman Public schools have always relied on the state Department of Health to determine which immunizations are needed for school. This makes sense because the state DOH has public health experts qualified to make these decisions, whereas most school districts do not. I see no reason why this precedent should change for the COVID vaccine. Keeping this decision at the state level would allow schools to focus on what school officials are qualified to do: improve educational quality, reduce problems like bullying and poor school climate, and close the learning gap, among others.

Democrat/ Republican Adam Smith School immunizations fall under the purview of 28 Pa. Code Chapter 23. Therefore, approval for any new immunization requirement and accompanying exemptions would only be implemented via the amendment process in the state legislature. Local school directors do not have authority to make such amendments. Therefore, this is not a vote that would come before the East Penn School Board. Employment requirements are local decisions, but no policy exists in East Penn regarding employee immunizations of any kind. Without any current policy or precedent and given that 87 percent of teachers nationally are already vaccinated, this should not be voted on either.

Democrat/ Republican Bill Whitney There are so many variables in a vaccine mandate process, but the bottom line is that this would not be my decision alone, or even our board's decision alone. Mandates will stem from state and local health bureaus. Here are my guiding principles, though, on any policy decision: Will it keep our schools open, active and safe? Will it allow our students and teachers to focus on the best education we can offer? Is there sound, credible science behind it? I am inclined to support anything that can answer ‘yes' to all of those questions.

Republican Michael Felegy I do not believe children should be required to be vaccinated for COVID-19 in order to attend school. It is unknown as to what the long-term health affects are of a vaccination for a virus that according to the American Academy of Pediatrics has a mortality rate of 0.00 to 0.03 percent in children. Furthermore, I do not believe that all staff should have to be vaccinated as this should be a personal choice.