HARFORD COUNTY, Md. — Harford County Board of Education unanimously approved a motion to work on offering a financial incentive for teachers and staff to get vaccinated.
“The new case rate, the positivity in this community has been tremendously high at least for times higher than at any other point,” said Superintendent Dr. Sean Bulson
The motion allows the district to enter negotiations with the district’s bargaining units.
“Our goal is to keep our students in school every day if possible,” he said.
Bulson said the district would like to offer school employees up to $500 to get their shots including the booster.
“We still have a way to go as far as vaccine compliance with our employees,” he said.
The district also believes the incentive would help keeps schools open.
Currently, Aberdeen Middle School is the only school in the district to transition to virtual due to a staffing shortage—many of them COVID-19 related.
“I’m saddened to an extent that an incentive program to get people to see the forest through the trees and recognize that vaccines are indeed helpful,” one board member said.
One board member said she supports the incentive because if 80 percent of students and employees are vaccinated the district could move to lift the school’s mask mandate.
“This would help us, assist us, in getting an accurate count and maybe moving towards not having masks sooner,” she said.
Bulson said the incentive would be offered to all employees who worked for the district this school year, including those who have already received the vaccine.
