Pittsburgh's Environmental Charter School mandates covid vaccinations for employees

The Environmental Charter School’s mission is to grow citizens.

It is along that vein, its chief operating officer said, that they have become one of the first in the area to mandate covid-19 vaccinations for their staff.

“We need to operate as global citizens — we’ve got to model that for everyone,” said COO James Doyle. “We want to end this pandemic, and this is the way we can do this.”

The school’s Board of Trustees voted on Wednesday 12-0 to make vaccinations among staff mandatory. The charter school has four campuses in Pittsburgh.

At the end of the 2020-21 school year, 95% of employees were fully vaccinated. An additional 40 people have joined the staff for this school year, bringing the total to 125.

“As an organization, our greater ECS community has shared responsibility to get vaccinated to protect our students, staff, families, friends and the greater Pittsburgh region,” Doyle said. “It starts with us, and if we work together for the greater good, we will see an end to this pandemic.”

The school has 1,026 students in kindergarten through 10th grade.

Doyle hopes that their decision to mandate vaccines serves as a model for others to follow suit.

“I don’t know if we’re the first, but I hope that we won’t be the last,” he said.

As more and more districts continue the fight over mandatory masking policies, Doyle said Environmental Charter School has mandated mask-wearing for all students and staff since last year.

“Ultimately, schools are put in a really difficult situation,” he said. “We’re not health professionals. We’re not health experts. But the message we get from the state and federal government is that it’s a local decision. Figure it out.”

That’s why, Doyle continued, his district is following the advice of medical experts.

“We’re hearing consistently and clearly, universal masking and vaccination are important mitigation measures.”

They are especially important, Doyle said, since more than half of the school population are too young to be vaccinated.

“Covid has presented us with many challenges, many of which have been out of our control. We have a responsibility to our school community to be vigilant in all areas that are under our control: universal masking, mandating vaccination for all eligible adults, encouraging vaccination for all eligible children, and providing safe and clean spaces for our children to learn,” said Dr. Sapna Parker, ECS Board member and local pediatrician.

Experts have said that Monday’s full FDA approval of the Pfizer vaccine will likely lead to more schools and businesses instituting mandatory vaccination policies.

If an employee chooses not to receive a covid-19 vaccination, they will have to be tested regularly — likely one to two times per week, Doyle said. Anyone who is exempt for medical or religious reasons, will be allowed accommodations, the school said.

The deadline to be vaccinated — or to seek accommodations — is Sept. 15.