OVER 70% of Saipan International School’s students who are 5 to 11 years old have received the first dose of the Covid-19 vaccine, SIS Headmaster Dr. Ron Snyder said.
He added that 94% of SIS students who are 12 years and older are fully vaccinated while the vaccination rate for SIS teachers and staff is 100%.
SIS staff are mandated to get the vaccine, Snyder said, but there is no vaccine mandate for students. “However, we have a very rich after-school program offering and we are requiring vaccination in order to participate,” he said.
Like most private schools, SIS resumed face-to-face learning on Nov. 8. when Gov. Ralph DLG Torres’s 10-day school-closure order expired.
Snyder, who is also president of the Commonwealth Coalition of Private Schools, said some private schools “extended online learning time and are only resuming face-to-face learning this week while some made remote learning an option for their students.”
He said many private schools implemented restrictive cohorts, small class sizes and closed campuses to maintain a hygienic environment, and to react quickly should there be new updates from the Covid-19 Task Force.
The private school coalition has no specific guidelines, he added.
“We meet as a coalition and discuss the situation. We truly believe that individual schools need to evaluate the situation on their own campus and make decisions in the best interest of their students’ safety and educational opportunities,” Snyder said.
He added that private schools have developed their own protocols and procedures based on their campuses’ unique situation and need. These protocols are then submitted to the Covid-19 Task Force, he said.
“As of Wednesday, at least six private schools had worked with the Commonwealth Healthcare Corp. to set up vaccination clinics on their campuses,” Snyder said. These included Saipan International School, Saipan Community School, Brilliant Star School and Mount Carmel School.
“SIS was the first school to be able to arrange this on Nov. 9,” Snyder said.
