Some teachers with Pocatello-Chubbuck School District 25's federally funded Head Start program have lost their jobs for failing to get vaccinated for COVID-19, contributing to the temporary closure of one of the program's local classrooms, school district officials said Thursday.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced new requirements in December for Head Start staff supported by federal grants to be vaccinated for the coronavirus and for everyone over 2 years old to wear a face covering during Head Start activities.
District 25 does not require face coverings or COVID-19 vaccinations in general but opted to comply with the federal standard for Head Start to avoid forfeiting nearly $2.5 million in federal program funding, district spokesperson Courtney Fisher explained.
Fisher said a Head Start classroom at Tyhee Elementary School near Chubbuck was temporarily closed earlier this week. She said the district plans to soon place the 18 students displaced from that classroom in other Head Start classrooms at Lincoln Early Childhood Center, Jefferson Elementary School and Wilcox Elementary School, all in Pocatello.
Head Start is intended to promote school readiness for children of low-income families up to 5 years old. The District 25 program serves 183 children.
"The district relies solely on federal funding to operate this program and serve low-income families in our community," Superintendent Douglas Howell said in a press release. "Without that funding, the district does not have the resources to independently provide or fund a program similar to the Head Start program."
Fisher did not specify how many Head Start teachers and staff were let go due to the new vaccination policy, which took effect on Jan. 31, but she said all of the workers who were let go were offered the opportunity to apply for other school district positions. Fisher said two of the former Head Start workers were hired for new positions within the school district.
Fisher said parents of the students in the Tyhee classroom that has been "paused" have offered positive responses about continuing with the program, and she anticipates having those students temporarily reassigned to other classrooms by next week.
Fisher said some of the Head Start workers who failed to get vaccinated by the deadline have submitted requests for exemptions from the federal requirement based on religious or health reasons. She said a local Head Start policy council will make a determination on those exemption requests some time next week.
Nicole Lien, who taught at the Lincoln Center, was among the Head Start workers who were dismissed for failing to get vaccinated. Lien said the program was already short staffed prior to the workers getting let go. Lien said she knows of seven other program teachers who declined to get at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine prior to the deadline, including two who have filed for exemptions.
Lien acknowledges that District 25 leaders had their "backs against the wall" due to the funding situation, but she's written Idaho lawmakers to express her disappointment that the state hasn't joined in on a lawsuit involving several other states opposing the federal Head Start mask and vaccine mandates.
"I think they're overstepping their bounds. It's not (the federal government's) place to tell me," Lien said. "When you let them know that this is OK, they will never stop. ... When you give them that power you will never get it back."
Lien said she's researched COVID-19 vaccines and has found "just as many experts and just as many doctors" who conclude they cause more problems than they solve.
"I have had COVID. I've had natural immunities. This is not something I feel I need," Lien said, adding that breakthrough cases have been common among the vaccinated population. "This is all political. It's just about politics."
Dr. Ron Solbrig, a local physician who serves as a COVID-19 consultant for Idaho State University, begs to differ with Lien's research regarding doctors' opinions and science on vaccines.
"It's not even close to true," Solbrig said. "The vast majority of physicians and trained health care professionals believe that vaccines are worth the risk."
Solbrig, who studies the scientific literature on the coronavirus and COVID-19 vaccines closely, said there have been nine documented deaths in the U.S. attributed to COVID-19 vaccinations — all involving women in their 30s and 40s who had blood clots form in their brains after taking the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control. Furthermore, Solbrig cited CDC data finding the risk of an allergic reaction to a COVID-19 MRNA vaccine requiring medical attention is one in 200,000 globally.
By comparison, 1,200 people out of every 100,000 who don't get the vaccine die of COVID-19 in the U.S., according to a John Hopkins University of Medicine mortality analysis.
Looking ahead, Lien said she may do some substitute teaching for District 25. She also plans to focus on her side business of making signs and vinyl decals.