COLUMBUS, Ohio – Gov. Mike DeWine said Friday evening he is prepared to stop vaccinations for schools that are wavering on their commitments to return to in-person learning by March 1.

What You Need To Know

  • Gov. Mike DeWine said he is prepared to stop vaccinations for schools wavering on their commitments to return to in-person learning by March 1.

  • DeWine spoke Friday evening after the CDC issued guidance that schools can resume in-person learning without vaccines
  • DeWine called out schools by name

  • In Cincinnati, DeWine said he is troubled that Walnut Hills High School will remain remote the entire year.

"School districts promised to do this. We were very careful and very specific, and very plain," DeWine said.

For school staff to be eligible for COVID-19 vaccinations, superintendents had to sign a letter committing to in-person learning by March 1.

The governor said he told CEO of Cleveland Metropolitan Schools Eric Gordon that vaccinations for the district’s staff are on the line if he reneges on his commitment to bringing students back by March 1. DeWine said his office was made aware of reports that officials with Cleveland schools did not intend to make good on their commitment.

“We had a very frank, very plain, but a very good discussion, and frankly I called him because we’re in the midst now of vaccinating teachers, personnel,” DeWine said. “And so my question to him was: Are we to stop the vaccination? ”

DeWine said Gordon made a commitment to him that he would do “everything in his power” to get students back in school by March 1.

The governor spoke Friday evening after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued guidance that schools can resume in-person learning without vaccines.

"The science has demonstrated that schools can reopen safely prior to all teachers being vaccinated," CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky told reporters Friday.

According to the governor, many schools have already shifted back to in-person learning. Fewer than 15% of students are learning in districts that are fully remote. The governor said Akron and Cincinnati schools have already been vaccinated, and now they are walking away from their commitment, he said.

"The reason I'm here tonight is we have learned that there are a handful of schools that have indicated that they will break that promise, that they will break that commitment -- not just a commitment to me, but really a commitment to the children of their district. This is simply not acceptable. And this is about the kids," DeWine said during his unexpected briefing Friday night.

In an address Thursday, Akron Public Schools Superintendent David James said school staff needs to have received their second doses before school reopens.

The governor called out schools by name. In Cincinnati, he said he is troubled that Walnut Hills High School will remain remote the entire year.

“That simply is not acceptable," DeWine said. The governor said Akron is defying its commitment with plans to open on March 15. “That’s not acceptable either," he said.

The state is now recommending it's safe for students to be back in school even without six feet distancing, DeWine said. The state’s studies show three feet is sufficient.

“We've learned that masks really work, even in a classroom when kids are less than six feet,” he said.

DeWine rejected suggestions that he was unfairly leveraging superintendents.

He said schools had the choice to defer vaccines and stay in remote learning models.

“If we can't get the kids back in school then we're not mad about it. I'm not mad about. We're just going to say we're going to take these vaccines and put them over here with a group that is more vulnerable,” DeWine said.

The governor was asked if school staff members who have received one vaccine shot are at-risk of not getting a second.

“I think there would be an ethical problem in delaying that, concerned with what the CDC has said,” DeWine said. “Our commitment is to give that second dose.”