THIS GUEST OPINION PIECE BY:
Jessica Machado is a freelance writer and former contributor to the Fall River Herald News. She is also a former radio host at WSAR and political blogger.
At last week’s K-8 school committee meeting, Somerset Superintendent Jeffrey Schoonover disclosed that the school district had begun plans to offer a vaccination clinic for students at the middle school this school year. This clinic would be in partnership with Walgreens to help provide and administer the vaccine to students aged 12 and older with parental consent.
I wholeheartedly oppose this plan.
Back in 2017, I began to advocate for the removal of Body Mass Index testing taking place in our schools. The collection of medical data from children should be reserved for the privacy of a doctor’s office and has no business in a classroom setting. While this program has yet to be completely eradicated from our schools, participation is now minimal thanks to a change in policy where opt-out forms are now sent at the start of the school year within the registration packet.