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A4 U.S. NEWS
Tuesday 1 February 2022
Mandate to vaccinate New Orleans schoolchildren kicking in

By REBECCA SANTANA on Reinventing Public Edu-
Associated Press cation suggested that the
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — As charter schools' habit of
school systems across the operating independently
U.S. struggle to keep class- might have played a role
rooms open amid the pan- in their support for the vac-
demic, New Orleans is set cine requirement.
to become the nation's first The measure is also in step
major district to mandate with others taken by the
COVID-19 vaccinations for city at large to curb the
children 5 and up, though virus, including a recently
state regulations will allow reinstituted mask mandate
parents to opt out easily. and vaccination require-
Ahead of Tuesday's dead- ments for everyone 5 and
line, many schools in the older to enter certain plac-
city have been holding es, such as restaurants.
vaccination events, includ- A few other school districts
ing one at KIPP Believe around the country have
school. taken similar measures.
One by one, dozens of chil- Students in Washington,
dren presented their signed D.C., will be required to
permission slips, pushed up A young boy walks down a hallway to get tested for COVID-19 at L.B. Landry High School in the be vaccinated by March
the sleeves of their pale Algiers neighborhood of New Orleans, on Jan. 3, 2022. 1. The Los Angeles school
yellow school uniform shirts Associated Press system delayed a require-
and — often wincing, but ment that students 12 and
rarely with tears — re- won't lead to youngsters parents can obtain waiv- thousands of students are up be vaccinated after it
ceived a shot. Then they being kicked out of school ers from any immunization tested weekly. There's been became clear that thou-
got candy. come Tuesday. simply by citing medical, little of the public contro- sands of unvaccinated stu-
Some said they had loved Waivers for those opposed religious or philosophical versy seen in other districts, dents who didn't meet the
ones who had gotten the to vaccination are easy to objections. where parents have berat- requirement would have to
coronavirus and wanted to obtain under state regula- Tulane University epidemiol- ed school boards. do online learning.
do what they could to pro- tions, and schools will work ogist Susan Hassig said that Henderson said the man- But many states have gone
tect their families. Others with students who aren't even with the waiver op- date was a bottom-up de- the other direction, in some
said their parents decided. inoculated, he said. But tion, the mandate is a good cision, with charter school cases banning schools from
Eight-year-old Nyla Carey eventually everyone will way to get students vac- operators across the district mandating the vaccine.
had talked to her mother. have to be vaccinated or cinated. She said parents submitting letters of sup- About 55% of all 5- to
"She said that the COVID have a waiver. who were a little unsure or port, as opposed to district 17-year-olds in New Orleans
shot was to protect you. New Orleans is a Demo- hadn't gotten around to it officials imposing the policy have had at least one dose
And so now I want to be cratic enclave in a red will have a stronger motiva- on their own. of the vaccine, according
brave," the third-grader state, and the city and the tion to get their kids' shots. About one-quarter of to city figures. Statewide
said before going back to district are outliers in the The New Orleans public the district's schools were the number is about 26%.
class. South, where many parents school system consists en- closed to in-person learn- That compares with 66% of
Schools Superintendent and elected officials have tirely of charter schools, ing in mid-January as the 12- to 17-year-olds and 30%
Henderson Lewis said the balked at measures to con- which are taxpayer-sup- omicron wave hit staff of 5- to 11-year-olds nation-
requirement, announced trol the coronavirus. ported but independently members and students, ac- ally, according to the Cen-
in December in the district In fact, Louisiana Health operated. It has a mask cording to Henderson. ters for Disease Control and
of nearly 46,000 students, Department guidelines say mandate in place, and Christine Pitts of the Center Prevention.q

Family wants no contact with woman facing terrorism charge

— The family of a Kansas the judge that he had been that she preferred to be an Islamic State unit called
woman charged with join- in contact with Ekren's par- addressed as Ekren. The "Khatiba Nusaybah" in the
ing the Islamic State group ents and her adult children, Justice Department used Syrian city of Raqqa in late
and leading an all-female and all had said they want- her full name, Allison Fluke- 2016. The all-female unit
battalion says they want ed no contact with her. Ekren, when it announced was trained in the use of
nothing to do with her, a The magistrate judge, Ivan charges against her Satur- AK-47 rifles, grenades and
prosecutor said Monday. Davis, said he had little day. suicide belts.
Allison Ekren, 42, made ability to keep her from Prosecutors say Ekren want- According to court pa-
an initial appearance on reaching out to her fam- ed to recruit operatives to pers, Ekren moved to Egypt
Monday afternoon in U.S. ily from jail, but told Ekren attack a college campus in in 2008 and traveled fre-
District Court in Alexandria. he would take it into ac- the U.S. and discussed the quently between Egypt
The hearing lasted only count at Thursday's hearing idea of attacking a shop- and the U.S. over the next
minutes; she was ordered if she contacted her family ping mall. She told one wit- three years. She has not
to remain in jail pending a against their wishes. ness that "she considered been in the U.S. since 2011.
This undated photo provided
by the Alexandria, Va., Sher- detention hearing set for Ekren, speaking in a soft- any attack that did not Prosecutors believe she
iff's Office in January 2022 Thursday afternoon, and spoken voice and wear- kill a large number of indi- moved to Syria around
shows Allison Fluke-Ekren. an attorney was appointed ing an inmate jumpsuit viduals to be a waste of re- 2012.
Associated Press to represent her. and headscarf, said she sources," according to an Ekren's newly appointed
At the end of the hearing, understood the restriction. FBI affidavit. attorney, Joseph King,
By MATTHEW BARAKAT though, First Assistant U.S. She also told the judge, in The affidavit also alleges declined comment after
ALEXANDRIA, Va. (AP) Attorney Raj Parekh told response to his question, Ekren became leader of Monday's hearing.q