BOISE, Idaho — With the approval of the COVID-19 vaccine for kids ages five-to-11, KTVB wanted to know if school districts now plan to track the number of students getting vaccinated. However, due to the vaccine for kids’ approval is so recent, some school districts told KTVB it’s too early to release any information on those plans.
In Idaho’s largest school district, the West Ada School District, spokesperson Char Jackson said they are not tracking vaccination rates among students at this time.
Last month though, the school board there decided that if any one of the three triggers were met, that would allow them to revisit the mask mandate. One of those triggers was that the vaccine is available for kids ages five to 11.
Now that's happened, the school board will likely be re-visiting that mask requirement. Jackson said, as of now, nothing has changed on that front.
“Right now, we are still in a mask-required situation and if that is going to change in the future we're just going to have to see. we know this pandemic has all made us be fluid, so we're just kind of in one of the fluid patterns now,” Jackson said.
The other two triggers are crisis standards of care are withdrawn and community transmission becomes moderate in Ada County.
KTVB also reached out to the Boise School District. In an email, BSD spokesperson Dan Hollar said they have not been tracking the number of students who receive the vaccine. In the future, they may ask parents to inform them of their child's vaccination status, however, it would be optional for parents to participate.
He added that as part of contact tracing, they may also inquire about a student's vaccination status to determine the proper COVID-19 exposure protocol to follow.
The Boise School District is also in conversations with vaccine providers about the possibility of providing optional vaccination clinics at its schools as a way of increasing accessibility for eligible students. Those conversations are still early on, according to the email.
Meantime, the West Ada School Board is scheduled to meet on Nov. 15.
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