The first draft of a possible COVID-19 vaccine mandate for Cincinnati Public Schools students went before the school board’s policy committee Friday afternoon, giving the public its first look at what an eventual requirement might entail if enacted.
State law prevents CPS from requiring any shots that do not have full, non-emergency FDA approval, so only students 16 and over would be affected by the proposed policy.
Mike Moroski, the board member who proposed it, said he sees a vaccine mandate as a logical step to protect students, staff and families.
"If we know that this disease is starting to kill children and these variants are targeting children, I think that's all the more reason we should act,” he said. "I just think it's only fair that everybody who can be vaccinated, we ask them to be vaccinated."
Fellow board member Eve Bolton suggested a requirement that starts with students in higher-risk activities for COVID-19 transmission, such as sports.
"We have to figure out how to keep people safe and healthy and the schools open in-person,” she said.
The policy isn’t final yet and no date has been set for a vote. CPS counsel Dan Hoying plans to make wording adjustments and bring it back to the committee on Oct. 28.
If a vaccine mandate is passed, it likely won’t be for months, Moroski said.
