North Shore Push For Teachers To Move Up Coronavirus Vaccine List

BEVERLY, MA — A group of 29 superintendents and union presidents from the North Shore sent Gov. Charlie Baker a letter on Friday urging him to reclassify educators into phase 1 of the state's coronavirus vaccination rollout.

Moving teachers and other school staff into phase 1 would make them eligible to immediately register for the first shot of vaccination. Currently, teachers are in phase 2 of the vaccination schedule slated to run from February until April.

The North Shore Superintendents' Round Table and Union Presidents cite Gov. Baker's push for all schools to return to in-classroom learning as the reason why educators should be prioritized in the vaccination process along with other front line workers.

"We, as educators and leaders, recognize and agree that the best place for learning for our children is in the classroom," the letter states. "We have a profound responsibility to support the educational, emotional, physical and mental well-being of children across the Commonwealth.

"First responders, health care workers and educators share a commonality in their work in that they must come into contact with dozens or hundreds of people on a daily basis and often cannot be completely socially distant from those they serve. The stress and anxiety placed on educators as they continue to put themselves in this position without the protection of an existing vaccination is unfair and is not in the best interests of advancing public education in the Commonwealth."

The group said that teachers not only expose themselves to the virus, but are putting their families at risk of exposure as well. It said that vaccination "as quickly as possible" will allow educators to "perform our jobs at the level desired by your office."

The letter argues that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's guidance on prioritizing vaccinations for "preservation of societal functions" pertains to educators as well as health care and other essential front line workers.

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"We believe it is inarguable that educators are front line workers," the letter concludes. "Given the societal need for public school — not just public school via Zoom — and the expectations set by your office and (the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education), educators should be vaccinated immediately and without delay so that they can perform their duties safely and securely.

"While we understand that there is not an inexhaustible supply of vaccines, we believe the vaccination of educators should be a priority and is deserving of phase 1 status. We also call your attention to other states of similar educational expectations, including New York, Connecticut and Maine, that have classified educators in the first phase of vaccination."

The North Shore superintendents and union presidents in the round table represent Amesbury, Beverly, Chelsea, Danvers, Essex Tech, Everett, Georgetown, Gloucester, Hamilton-Wenham, Ipswich, Lynn, Lynnfield, Malden, Marblehead, Manchester-Essex, Masconomet, Newburyport, Northshore Education Consortium, Peabody, Pentucket, Revere, Rockport, Salem, Saugus, Swampscott, Triton, Tri-Town School Union, Whittier Regional and Winthrop.

(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at Scott.Souza@Patch.com. Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)

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