During a special Leon County School Board (LCSB) meeting on Thursday, Board member Rosanne Wood initiated a discussion about vaccine incentives focused on Leon County School (LCS) employees and students. The proposed initiative would provide a monetary incentive for employees and students to get vaccinated.
Board member Wood opened the discussion by stating, “since we are the educators of Leon County, we need to be doing a better job of educating our kids, parents, and our families of the importance of this vaccine…”
Wood mentioned that SAIL High School is holding a vaccine clinic and will be offering Starbucks gift cards and Amazon gift cards to students and employees who get vaccinated.
Before the meeting, Wood requested LCSB staff to examine what funds Broward County utilizes for its incentive program. She also asked staff to investigate what possible funds the LCSB might use for their vaccine campaign.
According to LCSB staff, Broward County uses a portion of their CARES II Grant for the program. However, the CARES II Grant is not an option for the LCSB. The grant money is allocated to pay off the Chrome Books that became necessary last year. Also, the funds provide additional staffing to schools to help mitigate learning loss due to the pandemic.
However LCSB did note they found nearly $100,000 from insurance renewals supplied by insurance companies as a Wellness Grant.
Staff noted that the LCSB is banned from participating in games of chance and cannot offer a raffle incentive. For there to be an incentive initiative, the Board will have to reallocate funds from the Wellness Grant to the Foundation for Leon County Schools.
However, the Board can provide educational information to employees and students.
Wood appealed to the rest of the Board, stating, “it’s the message from the Board that is important, that we value this. I think the parents trust us, they trust their school principal, they trust their teachers, and if we say publicly that ‘this is important and we hope you’ll do it,’ maybe it will make a difference… at least to the movable middle.”
She further suggested more public relations material, such as posters and videos for educational purposes, and reallocating Wellness Grant funds to the foundation for the incentive program.
School Board member Vice-Chair Darryl Jones commented that he would be happy to proceed with a campaign and even an incentive program, so long as the incentives are reserved for students. He claimed that children believe they are invincible and do not think about death; therefore, an incentive might help. However, Jones suggested that “mature people” understand the consequences of COVID and that it should be “incentive enough.”
Also, Jones made the point that the funds may be better used elsewhere. Since last year, schools have been trying to “remedy learning loss,” so when the Board is discussing reallocating funds, they “ought to identify funds to help students who are quarantined,” Jones said. In addition, a focus should be on better student engagement while they are under quarantine. Otherwise, “learning loss will continue to persist.”
Lastly, Superintendent Rocky Hanna conveyed that he supports using funds to promote education about the vaccine. Conversely, he is not as supportive of an incentive program. “If life or death isn’t enough to motivate them, then I’m not sure there is anything in our toolbox that can help,” Hanna said.
The discussion ended with Hanna assuring the Board that he and LCS staff will investigate what items might be used for incentives. The debate will resume during the next meeting on Tuesday, September 7, 2021.
Leon County School Board Member Advocates for Vaccine Incentives added by Lynsey Kirk on
View all posts by Lynsey Kirk →
In all seriousness, Woods needs to be stopped. She wants to incentivize the use of an experimental drug on the very children she is responsible for educating. This is madness! We DON’T know the long-term effects of the vaccines. No one does! They’re not even a year old yet!
To use innocent children as guinea pigs is sickening! If this is passed, I trust Woods will not receive immunity from future liability. I cannot believe we’re thinking of offering Amazon and Starbucks gift cards in exchange for a child’s role in the world’s largest human drug trial. This cannot be America.
@ Hope… 100% spot -on.
Like I always say; No matter how you arrange the letters D E M O C R A T… it will always spell HYPOCRITE.
Wood is a prime example of government overreach and ignoring the glaring problem… FAILURE TO CLOSE THE BORDER.
A true humanitarian and educator does not let party lines define right and wrong.
Where are her cries to close the border?
“since we are the educators of Leon County, we need to be doing a better job of educating our kids, parents, and our families of the importance of this vaccine…”
And since we have failed at the education part… lets just give them some money instead.
That lady is as unctuous and garrulous as any old woman I have ever been offended by. Its no wonder half the student body can’t read and write at a satisfactory level!
She’s a nut job!
Survival rate for children and young adults from 0-19 years of age = 99.9973%
… on THIS… the Science is Settled
RECALL THIS BUFFOON… and the rest of the Commie Cabal while we’re at it.
The Government screwed this up with how they handled it by letting their Hate for Trump get in the way. If they would have just stuck with the Truth and NOT played all the Games.
Lol here’s 25 at Starbucks to get vaccinated. How about no sales tax for a year?
The vaccines are not FDA-approved and Roseanne Wood is practicing medicine without a license. She is not a doctor, but she is playing one because she is a fool. She is an educator(?) not a doctor.
This woman is a danger to the public at large and especially our children. What she did a few weeks ago on the Internet is unconscionable. She should be recalled and arrested. If anyone should advocate for the vaccine it should be a Surgeon General medical professional. This woman is as crazy as a loon…
A doctor would face losing their license if they gave Amazon gift cards and Starbuck incentives to decide Medical Care.
FIRE WOOD!!
Surprisingly Hanna my be right on this one, not dying should be incentive enough to get a vaccine. But the thing is the vast majority of people will not die from covid in the first place. I do not know why health insurers are not giving people incentives to get vaccinated. Seems like insurance companies have an interest in not having their clients rack up medical bills due to covid.