Culver City schools to require COVID vaccine for eligible students, staff, teachers

In what's believed to be the first such mandate in California, the Culver City Unified School District will require all eligible students, staff and teachers to show proof of their COVID-19 vaccination status by Nov. 19. 

Last month, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced a requirement for all teachers and school employees in the state to show proof of COVID-19 vaccination or submit to weekly testing -- but the Culver City directive takes that a step further to include eligible students.

RELATED: California school staff must be fully vaccinated or undergo weekly COVID testing

Children 12 and older are eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine.

Superintendent Quok Tran has only been on the job for four days and what he rolled out was huge but to him necessary. 

"I believe the urgency to make sure that we begin a layering of protection that will yield the best result," Tran stated. "It will yield a better protection for our community. It is mandatory. Starting today we are working our way hoping that by November 19th that we will have 100% compliance."

As parents were picking up their kids from school they weighed in on the issue. 

"I kind of agree with it. You don’t know if someone has it or not at this point. We all look normal, could be asymptomatic," said parent Dante Williams whose 12-year-old son goes to Culver City Middle School. 

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She says her son isn’t vaccinated yet but will be. However, others don’t agree with the superintendent’s decision. 

"I don’t agree with it. It should be a choice," said Steve Baird.

"I want to be able to keep the board’s promise that in the afternoon when this child is returning to you we have done everything we could have done to return this child safely to you," Tran stated. 

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