Del Bigtree: Walkouts in Shasta County SDs sent ripples that led to cancellation of COVID vaccine mandate for California students

08/16/2022 / By Ramon Tomey

Del Bigtree, founder and CEO of the Informed Consent Action Network (ICAN), credited the walkouts staged in various school districts (SDs) throughout California’s Shasta County for the cancellation of the vaccine mandate for students in the Golden State.

Bigtree elaborated on this claim in an episode of his program “The HighWire.” He also touched on the protests back in October 2021 against mandatory Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccination.

“Let it be known that Shasta County changed the law for California … [and] the direction that the COVID vaccine mandate was going. And as California goes, so goes much of the country. That little county may have saved us all across this nation from a mandated COVID-19 vaccine,” Bigtree said.

According to a report by local news channel KRCR 7, hundreds of Shasta County students, parents and teachers participated in a school walkout on Oct. 18, 2021 against the compulsory COVID-19 injections.

Justin Hefley, whose daughter attends a school in Shasta Meadows Elementary SD, said the walkout did not surprise him. “No, I’m not surprised at all [and] that’s something that I support. I think parents and teachers should have their choice on whether they get this vaccine or not,” he said.

SD superintendents have attested to the impact of the walkouts.

Shasta Union High SD Superintendent Jim Cloney said roughly 40 percent of students were absent that day; Enterprise Elementary SD Superintendent Heather Armelino said roughly 45 percent of students in her SD stayed home and that around five to six percent of teachers took the day off; and Happy Valley Union Elementary SD Superintendent Shelly Craig said 234 of their students did not show up that day.

Walkouts in one small county has huge impact in whole state

Bigtree noted that ICAN lodged Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests about the walkouts’ repercussions, with the help of the group’s legal counsel Aaron Siri.

“We put in FOIA requests and wanted to know what effect it had. Lo and behold, we found out that the superintendents across the county – over 25 of them – got together and sent a letter,” said the ICAN founder.

The Nov. 15, 2021 letter was addressed to the California Department of Public Health and several officials in the Golden State, including Gov. Gavin Newsom. Other officials named in the letter included State Sens. Richard Pan and Ben Allen, alongside Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis in her capacity as president of the California State Senate.

“We have received many emails and have heard many hours of public comment from parents who are concerned about how quickly these vaccinations have been developed and tested. A majority of the families in our community are expressing hesitancy with regard to vaccinating their children – as many as 80 percent, according to one of our largest district’s surveys,” the superintendents wrote.

“They are voicing their request for a choice and their plans to withdraw their children from public school if vaccines are required. Forty-five percent of families across Shasta County public schools kept their students home on Oct. 18 to demonstrate their opposition to the vaccine mandate.”

The superintendents warned that “from 25 to 70 percent of students, depending on the district” would no longer enroll in Shasta County public schools if COVID-19 vaccines become mandatory and exemptions to the shot are eliminated.

“This could very well mean the closure of many of our smaller SDs and fracturing of our larger [SDs].”

The pushback from Shasta County parents, students and teachers paid off – in the form of Pan walking back on his proposed legislation requiring children to get the COVID-19 shot. (Related: California State Sen. Richard Pan PAUSES mandatory COVID vaccination bill for schoolchildren due to LOW vaccine uptake.)

“What this shows us is how we fight … [and] stand up for what we believe, and when we stand together – power to the people – we make a difference,” concluded Bigtree. “Thank you, Shasta County, for being bold. We are winning.”

Watch the full excerpt of “The HighWire” where Del Bigtree talks about the Shasta County school walkouts.

This video is from The HighWire with Del Bigtree channel on Brighteon.com.