A Connecticut educator and former “teacher of the year” may lose his job for refusing a COVID-19 vaccination or submit to weekly testing.
Mr. Kahseim Outlaw, a physical education teacher at Lyman High School in Wallingford, Connecticut, is currently on unpaid leave for not adhering to the school district’s policy regarding vaccinations.
In an interview on The Donlon Report, Outlaw stated, “I’m a personal advocate, a big advocate, for personal health and the choices that we make with our medicine and with our medical procedures and therefore I believe it’s my own choice on how to maintain that and how to manage it.”
During the interview, Outlaw noted that he tested positive for COVID-19 last year and, according to multiple studies, is resistant to contracting COVID due to natural immunity or antibodies.
On Twitter, Outlaw describes himself as an “Enthusiastic Physical Education and Health Instructor, Passionate Husband & Father, Spiritual Seeker, Lifelong Learner,” which, in part, made him an excellent candidate for the “Teacher of the Year” award in 2020.
Outlaw confirmed to The Epoch Times that he is “on unpaid leave until the board votes.” Currently, he is prohibited from teaching on campus.
“It is my personal belief,” Outlaw wrote, “that how we manage our individual health, and the way in which we access medicine and medical procedures is a matter of personal choice. This is a belief that I’m willing to champion as long as I’m alive.”
In August, Democrat Governor Ned Lamont announced an executive order requiring state employees, childcare, and school staff to be vaccinated for the coronavirus or face testing weekly.
“Ensuring all of our educators, including early childhood educators, and school staff are vaccinated will keep students in the classroom and keep childcare open for families. Getting vaccinated keeps yourself safe, keeps your community safe, and will help beat back the ongoing spread of this virus,” Lamont said.
The Governor followed his August executive order with a mask mandate in September to “provide the authority to require masks in schools, childcare facilities, and certain higher-risk settings, as well as providing municipal authority to require universal masking in certain settings.”
The State Department of Education has ruled that “weekly COVID-19 testing is required of unvaccinated staff members whether an employee (or contractor) has a valid exemption to the vaccination requirement.”
The legal group JD Supra agrees with the Governor’s ruling and has stated, “if a covered worker refuses to receive weekly testing, that worker must not be allowed on school premises…”
Outlaw is standing on principle, holding that vaccinations and regular testing for individuals who have previously contracted COVID-19 to be “unnecessary medical procedures.” His future as an educator in Connecticut is uncertain.
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