At a Special Board Meeting tonight, the Long Beach Community College District Board of Trustees adopted a resolution that requires all employees and students to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19. The deadline for employees to submit their proof of vaccination to LBCCD is Jan. 3, 2022. The deadline for students is Jan. 24, 2022.

Long Beach Community College District Board of Trustees President Uduak-Joe Ntuk issued this statement on tonight’s vote:

“On behalf of the Board of Trustees, we listened and provided more time for comments from our campus community on tonight’s vote regarding the vaccination mandate. 

After careful consideration of both sides of the issue, and reviewing the public health information provided by our state, regional and local health authorities, we made our decision based on the greater good of our students, employees, and the entire community. Since March 2020, Long Beach City College has been doing its part to fight this worldwide pandemic to ensure the safety of our campus community and we continue our mission to provide excellent education to all of our students. Tonight’s vote continues these efforts as it will ultimately help reduce the risk of transmission of COVID-19 and move towards in-person learning for our students and staff.”

Some guidelines in the resolution include:

• All employees must also provide proof of vaccination booster doses if and when public health authorities, including the CDC, the California Department of Public Health or the County Department of Public Health, indicate that a COVID-19 vaccine booster is necessary based on the COVID-19 vaccine that the employee received and the date upon which they became fully vaccinated. 
• Employees will be excluded from campus and deemed absent without leave if they have not submitted proof of vaccination unless an exemption or other accommodation as required by law has been authorized.
• Employees traveling on behalf of the District are required to submit proof of vaccination and, if proof of vaccination has not been provided, will be prevented from traveling on behalf of the District and deemed absent without leave, unless an exemption or other accommodation as required by law has been authorized.
• Students will be excluded from attending in-person, on-campus classes and accessing in-person, on-campus services or events if they have not submitted proof of vaccination and will be considered absent from class without excuse unless an exemption or other accommodation as required by law has been authorized.
• Fully online students who are accessing online-only classes and/or online-only services or events will not be required to provide proof of vaccination and will not be allowed to come to campus.

With tonight’s vote, Long Beach City College will now develop additional policies related to the COVID-19 vaccination mandate to be presented to the Board of Trustees’ approval at a future meeting, including exceptions and measures for those who are in non-compliance.