As the COVID-19 vaccine rollout continues within the state, teachers from the Sedona-Oak Creek School District will soon find themselves rolling up their sleeves for the shot.
During the Tuesday, Jan. 5, SOCSD Governing Board meeting, Superintendent Denny Dearden announced that he was notified by Yavapai County School Superintendent Tim Carter’s office that teacher vaccination can begin as early as Tuesday, Jan. 12.
However, Dearden later said no date has been given but that the vaccinations should take place at the schools for teachers within the next two weeks. He said at least 75% of the district staff has agreed to get the shot.
“I’m very excited about this and the fact we will be one of the first in the county to be vaccinated,” he said, noting that getting the shot among staff is voluntary.
During a leadership meeting with Yavapai County on Monday, Jan. 4, Yavapai County Community Health Services Director Leslie Horton was the guest speaker as she was in December and gave updates on COVID-19.
Horton, like many others in the public health field, expected a spike in positive numbers around the holidays due to an increase in travel and more families and friends gathering for Christmas and New Year’s Eve.
“She focused her attention on schools and to say that schools are still the safest place for our teachers and our students,” Dearden said. “[Spread] is not happening inside the schools — it’s happening in our communities.”
Since Aug. 24, the district has had nine students who have tested positive for COVID-19. Dearden noted that in none of those cases the student contracted the virus at school and that there was no spread on campus.
“Parents have been pretty good about notifying us when their student is sick and we encourage them to stay home,” he said. “We also have testing here on campus that we can do for our teachers that might think they have symptoms. We don’t test them unless they think they have symptoms.”
In addition to the nine students who have tested positive, Dearden said SOCSD has had one staff member who contracted COVID-19 off campus and then another who tested positive over the holiday break.
“It shows that we’re doing a good job with our mitigating strategies and the contact tracing,” he said. “When we get on that very quickly, we’re able to figure out, potentially, who may be at risk and quarantine them. It’s been very effective and we want to continue that process.”
