CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — The Clarksville-Montgomery County School System is one of a few districts in Tennessee that will be allowed to vaccinate their own teachers.
"We believe that we can get on top of this and be a major part of the solution," said CMCSS Director of Schools Millard House.
The state has given them permission because Montgomery County has multiple clinics around the area, designated for county employees, which includes teachers. "We have 5 clinics that we run that is a huge, huge advantage for our employees. I use the clinic myself," said House.
It's unclear if the dose will only go to teachers or all staff members that interact with students. The Director of Schools believes once the clinics are up and running, they can get them all distributed quickly.
"We’d be able to vaccinate upwards of 500 people a day," he said.
To run the clinics, the district will rely on the nurses already working in CMCSS schools and will utilize about 30 students from a nearby Tennessee College of Applied Technology.
Teachers will eventually be able to sign up using an electronic form.
With a plan in place, CMCSS is now waiting to learn from the state when vaccines will be available for teachers.
"Chris, it’s a moving target," House told NewsChannel 5. "I've been told any time between late February, March."
Another challenge will be convincing more of their staff to take the vaccine. The district commissioned a study of staff members that found only 43% say they'll sign up for a COVID-19 vaccine. "We won’t be surprised if that number increases, much like it has been for first responders. I think they originally in our community had about 40 percent and that number has slowly creeped up," said House.
In Metro Nashville Public Schools, they will rely on Metro Nashville Public Health to vaccinate their teachers. They hope to start the process by late February or early March.
Metro Nashville Schools will rely on the county health department to vaccinate their teachers.
They also hope to start that process by Late February or Early March.
