Dozens of Santa Barbara City College faculty are requesting that their in-person classes scheduled this fall are moved back online after the Board of Trustees voted down a widely supported vaccine mandate for staff and students.
The current policy — adopted by the board on May 27 — “strongly encourages” students and employees to be vaccinated and that those students or employees who elect not to must wear a mask, observe social distancing, and submit to periodic COVID-19 testing.
The college’s Academic Senate and Faculty Association held a special meeting on June 8 to come up with an alternative motion that mandates COVID-19 vaccination, among other stipulations. It had unprecedented support from a unanimous Academic Senate, unanimous Faculty Association, and strong support from the California School Employees Association (CSEA). But it was still shot down by the board at its June 24 meeting in a 4-3 vote. Opposed were Trustees Veronica Gallardo, Kate Parker, Robert Miller, and Peter Haslund.