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Wednesday January 6, 2021
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s teachers inch toward the head of the line to receive a COVID-19 vaccine, it begs the question: can school districts mandate inoculations? According to the Arizona School Risk Retention Trust, yes. “School districts may require employees to be vaccinated against COVID-19 as a condition of on-site work, subject to exemptions required by state and/or federal law,” reads a legal memo prepared for the nonprofit Trust and circulated late last month to its member districts. The Trust, which provides more than 250 public school districts and community colleges with property and liability insurance, also advised districts to consult with their own at-
Born free
torneys on legal issues related to any vaccination requirement. Initial reaction both officially and unofficially was mixed last week. Speaking only for herself and not for the Kyrene Governing Board, new member Wanda Kolomyjec, herself an adjunct professor, said, “The expectation that certain populations must receive vaccines has been a practice in our society for a long time. The only way to eradicate certain diseases like polio and small pox, was to rely on the scientific notion that everyone must receive a vaccine. “To that end, schools have always required students must receive their vaccines before being permitted to enroll in schools with certain limited exemptions for religious beliefs etc. Therefore, I think requiring teachers and staff to be vaccinated against COVID-19 – with
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At least that’s the way Trinity appeared to feel last week at Pecos Dog Park with owner Sharon Schidei. (Pablo Ro-
bles/AFN Staff Photographer)
SHOWCASE NIGHTS
see VACCINES page 9
Club West HOA board defends its actions over golf course BY PAUL MARYNIAK AFN Executive Editor
TRAVEL GUIDE
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the same exceptions – makes sense, both scientifically and historically.” New Tempe Union Governing board member Sarah James, a teacher, said that while she doesn’t know the district’s position, she believes “this is an issue we will have conversations about hopefully soon.” “On a personal level,” James added, “my hope is that teachers flock to get the vaccine so we can get back into classrooms ASAP. I understand the hesitation on one level, but I also trust the science and I am so ready to get my vaccine.” Spokespersons for both Kyrene and Tempe Union, which are part of the Trust, said district officials had no immediate reaction. But Chandler Unified spokesman Terry
Golf seeing a resurgence of interest in Valley ............... See Sports, Page 32
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Mandatory COVID shots for teachers called possible BY CECILIA CHAN AND PAUL MARYNIAK AFN News Staff
AHWATUKEE.COM
@AhwatukeeFN |
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new year and a preliminary injunction haven’t changed the fight over the future of the Club West Golf Course between the HOA board and a nonprofit comprising local homeowners. The latest salvo in the nearly year-old case was filed last month by the HOA board, which disputes several key findings Superior Court Judge Daniel Kiley made in November when he stopped the board
from considering any plan for the 18-hole course pending a trial in February. Calling the once vibrant course “a dead piece of land,” the board’s brief says, “Rather than allowing the golf course property to deteriorate even further, the association is acting, and continues to act, in the best interests of the entire community.” Now, a Jan. 22 hearing has been set before Superior Court Commissioner Andrew Russell on the Club West Conservancy’s request for a permanent injunction against the board. Kiley’s preliminary injunction stopped
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Discover the impact of a Kyrene education. L E A R N I N G. L E A D I N G. A C H I E V I N G.
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