ORANGE — The Ralph C. Mahar Regional School District School Committee voted 9-1 on Thursday to adopt a COVID-19 memorandum of understanding that requires unvaccinated staff to be tested for the novel coronavirus once every seven days.
Shannon Johnson was the only member to vote against the motion made by Lynn Peredina after the committee was in executive session for nearly 40 minutes to start the virtual meeting. There was no discussion after Peredina made the motion.
The memorandum dictates that unvaccinated staff must agree to undergo testing once every seven days. It also states Nucleic Acid Amplification Tests (NAATs) will be an acceptable form of testing and results must be given to the human resources office, which will handle the clerical aspects of the process.
Superintendent Elizabeth Teahan-Zielinski said there are 10 unvaccinated staffers. Mahar, including the superintendent’s office in the building, has 125 staffers.
“Non-vaccinated staff who refuse both to get vaccinated and to uphold the agreement between the two parties will be subject to progressive levels of disciplinary action,” the memorandum reads.
The agreement makes clear the district will incur no cost for testing of unvaccinated staff, including time off to get tested, unless those staff members have a religious or medical exemption.
Also, if COVID-19 cases drop during the winter, or on June 30, whichever is earlier, the parties agree to reopen negotiations to determine if testing remains necessary for unvaccinated staff, who will be neither subject to discipline nor excluded from school activities due to their vaccination status as long as this agreement is followed.
The agreement applies specifically for Mahar, with negotiations being ongoing at the elementary school level.
Reach Domenic Poli at: dpoli@recorder.com or 413-772-0261, ext. 262.