OVER 350 EL MONTE CITY SCHOOL DISTRICT EMPLOYEES RECEIVE FIRST ROUND OF COVID-19 VACCINE
3/4/2021
El Monte, CA - With the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health opening the COVID-19 vaccine eligibility pool to include emergency services, food and agriculture workers, and educators, the El Monte City School District will see over 350 of its employees receive their first dose of vaccines this week.
In partnership with the East Valley Community Health Center, El Monte City School District (EMCSD) was able to secure initial doses for staff members who elected to receive the vaccine. “Our priority has always been the safety and well-being of our staff, and we knew the vaccine, along with masks, physical distancing, and hand washing, would give them the best defense against COVID-19,” said Superintendent, Dr. Maribel Garcia. “I want to thank East Valley Community Health Center and all the EMCSD staff members responsible for making this partnership possible. As we’ve seen throughout this pandemic, it takes everyone working together to effectively disrupt the spread of the virus.”
The District is also partnering with City of Hope Medical Center to continue vaccinating its employees. Those vaccinations are scheduled to begin at the end of the week. The Los Angeles County Office of Education has also provided EMCSD with access codes for staff members to guarantee vaccine appointments on the MyTurn.ca.gov website, a state sponsored vaccination scheduling website. “We’re excited to have so many different avenues for our employees to receive the vaccine. The City of Hope and Los Angeles County of Education have been extremely supportive in prioritizing educators, and we can’t thank them enough for providing a plethora of vaccination opportunities to our staff,” added Superintendent Garcia.
Although vaccinations are not required, the District has maintained that their employees deserve access to the vaccine, especially since the District, along with others throughout LA County are now eligible to reopen. El Monte City School District is currently exploring reopening plans with stakeholders in hopes to find a model that will work for their staff and community.
The District has two separate task forces, one staff and one parent task force that the Superintendent meets with weekly to discuss various reopening scenarios and to understand community concerns. Although the District has been in a Distance Learning model for the entire 2020-2021 school year, that does not mean students have not been on campus. In the Fall, the District launched its Extended Learning Pod program to provide child care to essential workers. Eventually, the pods were expanded to include child care for District employees and students who were identified as needing greater educational support. Currently, EMCSD has nearly 600 children in their learning pod program across its 14 campuses, with zero cases of child-to-child or child-to-staff member COVID-19 transmission.
For media inquiries, please contact Robert Dozmati, Public Information & Communications Officer at (626) 315-8014, email [email protected] or visit our website at https://www.emcsd.org/.