NPS will not change vaccine mandates at Little Panthers Preschool

NORFOLK, Neb. -- A northeast Nebraska school will not be changing its vaccine mandates for its preschool staff.

Norfolk Public Schools discussed changing their vaccine mandate at the Little Panthers Preschool, after one of their partnering programs implemented new federal mandate requirements. The mandates came from Head Start, an early childhood development program partnered with NPS, designed to help low-income children stay healthy and receive a proper education. Head Start's mandates would've required students to wear masks and for staff to be fully vaccinated against the coronavirus.

Currently, NPS does not require its staff to be vaccinated.

Superintendent Dr. Jami Jo Thompson said while NPS was willing to implement a mask policy, they would only do so if the staff vaccine mandate was removed.

"We don't feel that it is fair to have a vaccination requirement for our Little Panthers Preschool staff when we don't require that of anyone else in our district," Thompson said. 

In a unanimous 6-0 vote, NPS voted against implementing any changes to its current policies, meaning staff will not need to be vaccinated and no mask policy will be mandated for students.

Currently, Head Start provides around $178,000 a year to NPS to serve fifty students. NPS says it has the ability to absorb the $79,000 to keep those students on for the rest of the year.