No survey sent. No town hall meeting. No open discussion. No known access to SAA's Secret School Board's meetings. No warning. Just open wide and swallow, you tuition-paying drones. Swallow what? Well, the latest in the series of SAA's evolving COVID-19 protocols dictated yesterday by SAA Head of School Tissiana Bowerman, of course. If you missed it click here. It is nothing less than a vaccine passport mandate for high school students (ages 14-18) to be allowed to go on overnight field-trips and create unforgettable, lifelong memories with their friends - or not if they haven't gotten "the jab." So if you as a parent choose not to have your child receive a COVID-19 vaccination, then SAA will respect your choice by preventing your child from full participation in their school's academic enrichment activities. Just explain to your teenage high-schooler that they won't be allowed to go on overnight athletic tournaments, band trips, study trips, etc. or the Senior Class Trip, all because SAA respects your parental rights so much. Don't worry, your high school teenager will understand completely and back you up 100%.
Eyes On SAA has assigned to our investigative team an in-depth comparison on the multiple policies that have been announced this school year with seemingly mixed messages. Until we have our full analysis, here are some initial questions for all to consider - and for SAA to answer:
Was any input from the SAA community at large sought? [Stop laughing......but feel free to comment on this post. ]
What best evidence of public health was sought and followed?
Is this a model that has proved successful anywhere else?
How is it somehow safe for unvaccinated students to spend the entire school day alongside their vaccinated peers inside the school building (including eating together while unmasked), but then it magically become unsafe for them to go on an overnight field trip - where masks are required to be worn both indoors and outdoors?
Won't this policy require parents to disclose the private and protected health information of their children (their "vaccination status")?
SAA cannot prevent this policy of disparate treatment of children from making a plain and visible distinction between vaccinated and unvaccinated high school students. But how will SAA take steps to prevent this distinction from inviting unwelcome scrutiny and categorization of individuals based on their private health information, undue pressure to conform, unnecessary division, or discriminatory treatment?
Why is there not an option for unvaccinated students to participate in these field-trips by showing a fresh negative COVID-19 test result?
If student safety is the overriding concern, then shouldn't every single student going on the field-trip, regardless of vaccination status, be required to have a fresh negative COVID-19 test result? Or is SAA somehow unaware that vaccinated persons are getting infected in scores every day, everywhere?
If staff and student safety is the overriding concern, why not require every student in the entire school to become vaccinated, or at least obtain a weekly negative COVID-19 test result?
Why doesn't this new policy make any provision for students who have legitimate medical reasons for not receiving a COVID-19 vaccination, such as potentially serious or life-threatening adverse reactions? Or who have already contracted COVID-19, overcome it, and thus developed COVID-19 antibodies more effective than any vaccine? Or whose parents may have a science-based or faith-based objection to their child receiving a COVID-19 vaccination?
BONUS QUESTION: Why was SAA closed for in-person learning for roughly 75% of the last school year, while several other area private schools, including other local SDA schools (even boarding schools in the region) held in-person instruction for most or all of the 2020-21 school year? SAA has never answered this question in any fashion except the conclusory justification of "student safety." So then all those other open schools were reckless and unconcerned about their students' safety?
Below is the graphic provided with Mrs. Bowerman's message:
Eyes On SAA will follow this matter and provide more reporting and commentary. Until then, the only public forum SAA has left you to express your opinion is this blog. So use it for all its worth by posting your comment for all to see, including SAA's administration who we know follows this blog.
Shining Light. Breaking Silence. Holding Accountable.
We’ve got Eyes On SAA.
-Lillian Hepburn-Richmond
(A Cohort of Concerned Parents)
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