Religious Exemptions For Vaccine Allowed At MOCO Schools: Report

Rockville MD

01 October, 2021

12:27 PM

Description

MONTGOMERY COUNTY, MD — Montgomery County Public Schools will now allow staff to apply for religious exemptions to its vaccine mandate after facing a lawsuit from an administrative employee, The Washington Post reported. The unnamed staff member filed the claim this week, saying that he felt he could not get the vaccine as a devout Christian. "If Doe adheres to his sincerely held religious belief that obtaining a COVID-19 vaccine would be a sin, he will be terminated for failing to comply with the Vaccine Mandate," the lawsuit says. MCPS spokesperson Chris Cram told The Washington Post that staff could apply for "medical or religious exemption, and those exemptions have been and will continue to be considered," but said that previous messaging did not explicitly say that religious requests were reviewed. Bethesda Beat reported that School Board member Lynne Harris told them that she had not been aware of any religious exemption. "The only exemption discussed was medical, and requiring solid medical documentation," Harris told Bethesda Beat. SEE RELATED: Federal Lawsuit Filed Against MOCO Schools Over Vaccine Mandate When the district made the decision to mandate vaccines for all staff, it said that it was driven to do so in order to protect students who are not eligible for the vaccine yet. "The Board passed this resolution as an added layer of protection, particularly for younger students who are not eligible to be vaccinated," Montgomery County Public Schools said in a letter after the announcement. "A series of vaccination clinics hosted by MCPS, DHHS, and other healthcare providers will be conducted across the county."