LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Tammy Berlin is a teacher and vice president of the Jefferson County Teachers Association (JCTA). She was heart broken after hearing the news about a school counselor, who died from COVID-19 complications.
"Its hard.. this is what we want to avoid," Berlin said. "That counselor and the teachers who have died. those were people who were caring adults in kids lives and they make a difference in kids."
It's a big reason why Berlin said JCTA is in full support of the testing option that's available for JCPS employees who do not want to be vaccinated by the required October 14th date.
"Nobody should have to make a decision between I'm going to keep my job or I'm going to get vaccinated," Berlin said. "Nobody should have to have that decision. And so the fact that there is the testing alternative gives everyone a choice."
Provisions for the new requirement include free testing with classroom coverage or employees can arrange their own testing with a licensed medical professional.
WHAS11 reached out to JCPS to see how they are planning to uphold the new requirements. School officials said right now they are figuring out the logistics and will update us once plans have been finalized and released to staff.
►Contact reporter Gabrielle Harmon at GHarmon@whas11.com or on Facebook or Twitter.
►Make it easy to keep up-to-date with more stories like this. Download the WHAS11 News app now. For Apple or Android users.
Have a news tip? Email assign@whas11.com, visit our Facebook page or Twitter feed.