Maui County public school staff vaccination rate just under 80%

DOE: New vaccination mandate resulted in some staff absences

Public school employees in Maui County currently lag behind the Department of Education's statewide vaccination rate, with nearly 85 percent of salaried staff fully or partially vaccinated in the wake of the department's new mandates.

Preliminary numbers show a vaccination rate of 84.68 percent, which does not include nonsalaried staff such as part-time, casual and state office level workers, according to DOE spokeswoman Nanea Kalani.

In Maui County's Baldwin-Kekaulike-Maui Complex Area, 77.79 percent are fully or partially vaccinated. In the Hana-Lahainaluna-Lanai-Molokai Complex Area, 71.33 percent are fully or partially vaccinated. The totals include schools and complex area salaried employees.

The DOE on Monday began implementing its COVID-19 testing mandate, part of Gov. David Ige's emergency proclamation signed on Aug. 5 that requires state and county employees to provide their vaccination status or be subject to regular COVID testing.

If an employee certifies and provides proof of full vaccination, that employee will not be subject to the weekly testing requirement, Kalani said.

If an employee has a health-related concern regarding the testing requirement, the employee can reach out of the department's equity specialist in their complex area, she added.

On Friday, Kalani said that in both complexes, the testing mandate "resulted in some staff absences this week, but principals were able to cover the positions in each case."

Hawaii State Teachers Association leaders on Maui and Oahu reported no major issues arising from the implementation of the testing mandate. There had been concerns over the possibility of large teacher absences if teachers did not want to comply with the mandate.

"We heard that some teachers are not wanting to comply," said HSTA President Osa Tui. "(But) it's been a lot less than we anticipated."

As for those who struggled with the mandate, Tui said some have decided to go ahead with the testing, while others have chosen not to comply. Tui said he didn't have official numbers on how many teachers have complied and was awaiting overall statistics from the DOE.

But Tui said the union is working on a class grievance over the failure of the DOE to negotiate the impacts of the testing mandate. In a notice on its website last week, HSTA said that it believes unvaccinated people required to test should be able to do so through a process that has been negotiated and not unilaterally implemented.

Tui said there are concerns for members who may have out-of-pocket costs and other impacts, such as having to seek testing outside of work hours. It is a burden that should be taken on by the state since it is mandating the testing, leaders say.

Lisa Morrison, who teaches arts and communication at Maui High School, the largest school in the county, said "there hasn't been a significant impact this week on my campus."

Morrison, who is also HSTA's secretary-treasurer, said that maybe only a quarter of teachers in Maui County may not be vaccinated and those who are unvaccinated or chose not to comply with the mandate are a "small minority."

What she has heard from campuses is that the experience with the testing mandate all depends on the principals as well. Regardless of whether the teacher is vaccinated, there are concerns if a principal strictly goes with the letter of the mandate and is not flexible in working with the employees.

"We could have teachers at home and classes without a teacher," she said. "And that's not what we want."

At Baldwin High School this week, English teacher David Negaard said he didn't see any disruption due to the testing mandate and feels that many of the staff are pro-vaccine or would be willing to comply with the requirements.

Negaard, who has been long concerned over the shortage of teachers and substitutes, said the testing mandate "might contribute a little bit" to worsening the staff shortage situation.

He said there are "almost no subs to call" to help fill absences, and often times teachers are asked to fill in for others during absences during their preparation times when they may have no students in the classroom.

Both Maui County complex area superintendents said they understand that testing is an issue and are working on setting up and expanding testing opportunities.

"Limited access to testing in some areas has impacted the ability for staff to be tested in a timely manner, but schools and the complex are working on standing up additional test sites for staff and students," said Kathy Dimino, complex area superintendent for Baldwin-Kekaulike-Maui.

A similar push is going on in the Hana-Lahainaluna-Lanai-Molokai Complex, said Superintendent Rebecca Winkie.

"We are expanding testing opportunities through Operation Expanded Testing and through a partnership with the National Kidney Foundation," she said. "Lahaina Intermediate has already received test kits and additional schools will have on-site testing in progress by next week."

* Melissa Tanji can be reached at mtanji@mauinews.com.