Teacher union leader urges governor to veto school vaccine bill

Fred Albert, seen at a West Virginia Senate Education meeting on Feb. 3, 2023, has called on the governor to veto a bill that would loosen West Virginia’s school vaccine requirements. (Will Price | West Virginia Legislative Photography)

The head of one of the state’s teacher unions has called on the governor to veto a bill that would loosen West Virginia’s school vaccine requirements — joining medical professionals who are pushing for a veto, as well.

House Bill 5105 , which passed on Saturday in the final hours of legislative session, would allow the state’s 143 private or parochial schools to develop their own rules for vaccines. It would also allow students attending public virtual school to be exempted from vaccine requirements.

Fred Albert, president of American Federation of Teachers-West Virginia, told state school board members on Wednesday that he will write a letter to Gov. Jim Justice urging a veto of the legislation.

“I’m all for people having freedom and choice, but when someone’s freedom infringes on the safety of others, I think we have a real concern,” Albert said. “It’s not a good bill.”

He shared that he was disappointed that the Senate Health Committee passed the legislation onto the floor for a vote, despite the fact that health care professionals attended the meeting to push back on the measure.

“A group of health care workers spoke and practically begged the Senators to not pass this bill,” Albert said.

Senate Health Committee Chairman Mike Maroney, R-Marshall, vehemently opposed the bill when it was up for a vote March 10 on the Senate floor, calling it a “step backwards” for West Virginia.

“I took an oath to do no harm,” he said. “There is zero chance I could vote for this bill.”

West Virginia’s school vaccinations requirements have long been among the most strict in the country, only permitting exemptions for limited medical reasons. The state is among five that do not allow philosophical or religious exemptions to school mandated vaccine requirements.

State law currently requires students to be vaccinated against a series of contagious diseases such as polio and measles.

Medical professionals continue to urge rejection of the proposed change, fearing a rise in contagious diseases in a state with medical care deserts.

After the legislature is adjourned, Justice has 15 days to act on most bills.

The bulk of lawmakers’ key education bills didn’t make it to the governor’s desk — many dying in the final hours of the legislative session.

The failed bills included a high-profile measure that would have bolstered elementary teachers’ ability to remove aggressive, threatening and violent children from their classrooms. It was the top issue that educators had asked lawmakers to address during the session.

“This looks like educators have just been shut out. They have not been heard,” Albert told school board members. “We’ve got to do something about the discipline in our classrooms. You cannot teach when it’s been disrupted by the behavior we’re seeing in our classrooms that we’ve never seen before.”

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