SFUSD Will Require Vaccinations for Staff

San Francisco (August 10, 2021) - The San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD) announced today they will be requiring vaccinations for staff.

Starting September 7, all SFUSD employees will be required to be fully vaccinated. Any employee who is not yet vaccinated will be mandated to test for COVID at least weekly. SFUSD has approximately 10,000 employees.

“As we move to a full return to in-person learning on August 16, we are doing so with all of the current health and safety requirements in place,” said Superintendent Dr. Vincent Matthews. “Given that we are in the midst of rising cases and new variants in our community, a vaccine requirement is a necessary step to keeping our students, staff and families safe.”  

“I support the superintendent’s decision to require vaccinations and I know many other school board commissioners do as well. We want to do everything in our power to keep our community safe and keep school buildings open for learning and connection,” said SF Board of Education President Gabriela López. “The pandemic is unpredictable but we have learned so much along the way and we know that vaccines remain highly effective -- vaccinated people are much less likely to get severe symptoms that result in hospitalization or death from COVID.”

The president of the United Educators of San Francisco (UESF) stated she is in full support of the district’s vaccine requirement. 

“Because United Educators of San Francisco love our communities and care for our students, we took the lead on advocating for a vaccine requirement paired with testing in SFUSD.  As we all return to school buildings in person, we are glad that we can move forward welcoming students and families with excitement and ensuring the safest conditions possible in the midst of this continuing pandemic,” said Cassondra Curiel, President of the United Educators of San Francisco (UESF). 

SFUSD has sent messages out for the past two weeks requiring staff to report whether or not they are vaccinated (reporting was optional last spring). So far SFUSD has received confirmation of vaccination status from over half its employees. Many educators are just returning to work this week after summer break. The district is giving employees until August 31 to submit vaccination verification.  

All staff and students will continue to have access to COVID testing through SFUSD’s partnership with Color. 

SFUSD’s vaccine requirement does not apply to students. The district has heavily promoted vaccination opportunities with staff, students and families since the vaccine became available, including partnering with various pharmacies and the SFDPH to host school-based vaccination clinics throughout the spring and summer.  The City’s dashboard shows that there is a high level of vaccination among San Francisco’s 12-18 year olds. According to the City’s dashboard, of the estimated 33,938 12-17 year olds in San Francisco, 32,315 have been vaccinated.

About SFUSD

SFUSD is the seventh largest school district in California, educating over 54,000 preK-12 students every year. San Francisco is both a city and a county; therefore, SFUSD administers both the school district and the San Francisco County Office of Education (COE). This makes SFUSD a “single district county.”

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