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Sacramento City Unified Extends Vaccine Mandate Deadline To Feb. 28

SACRAMENTO (CBS13) — The Sacramento City Unified School District announced Wednesday that it has extended its vaccination mandate deadline to the end of February due to compliance rate.

Sacramento City Unified said the extension will allow the district more time to adjust to the demands of the omicron surge while allowing students more time to report their status. It came just five days before the original deadline to get vaccinated.

In a letter to families, the district said around 55% of students have reported their vaccination status, and of the more than 27,000 students that are required to undergo routing testing for not reporting their status, more than 8,200 are still not registered to test.

"We will be continuing to send targeted communications to families in multiple languages," the district said in its letter. "Our goal is to keep our staff and students safe while keeping our schools— which are a safe haven for so many of our students—open to support their academic, social and mental wellbeing."

The district said those who dot not get vaccinated by the end of February will be moved to an independent study program.

While the mandate does not apply to students between 5-11 years old, they are required to sign up for regular testing.

The extension does not apply to staff, although that could change.

SCUSD said key factors in the extension were compliance rate, as well as communications, health services and school site teams' emergency needs amid the omicron surge.

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