San Rafael, CA – As of Tuesday, March 16, all Marin County schools have reopened for some degree of in-person learning as the COVID-19 pandemic shows more signs of easing.
Following a concerted drive to vaccinate educators and school staff across the county, The Marin County Office of Education estimated 9,000 educators and school staff members in Marin have had the opportunity to receive a COVID-19 vaccination as of March 13.
As Marin schools have returned to in-person learning either full time or in a hybrid model, they are now planning for expanding in-person learning time, for summer programs, and for the anticipated full opening of schools for the 2021-2022 school year with guidance provided by Marin County Public Health.
“It became clear early in the pandemic that for the good of our children we needed a plan for reopening schools as soon as it was safe to do so,” Willis said. “Most schools countywide had reopened following strict safety plans well before vaccines arrived. Vaccines are offering another layer of protection to those working so hard to support the academic, social and emotional wellness of our children.”
Under the leadership of Marin County Public Health and in collaboration with Kaiser Permanente, MarinHealth, and the Marin County Sheriff’s Office of Emergency Services, vaccinations were first administered at point-of-dissemination (POD) vaccination clinics for educators at the Marin Center on January 17 and February 7 to the highest-priority school staff including custodians, food service workers, special day class teachers, paraeducators, one-to-one aids and any educator over the age of 65.
PODs on March 6 and March 13 were offered for the remainder of educators and school staff, with more than 4,000 doses administered. Second doses for those recipients are scheduled for March 27 and April 3 so that educators can be fully vaccinated after the return from spring break on April 12. Almost 400 volunteers from all of Marin schools have joined reassigned County disaster service workers (DSWs) in staffing the vaccination events with medical professionals.
County Superintendent of Schools Mary Jane Burke said MCOE is immensely grateful to partners at the County of Marin, Kaiser Permanente, and MarinHealth for reaching this point.
“It is remarkable and reassuring that every single educator, which includes anyone working within a school site or district office, has received an opportunity for a COVID-19 vaccination,” she said. “Youth-serving organizations directly providing sports, arts, academic enrichment, and other programs so important to our children were also invited for a vaccine.”
Burke added that Marin teachers and school staff members have led the way in returning to classrooms and school campuses even prior to receiving vaccinations.
“It is inspiring to see, over and over again, how staff from public, private, independent, parochial schools have come together to support the needs of our community,” Burke said.