Culver City Unified School District in California is requiring all eligible students to show proof of the COVID vaccination – a decision that is believed to be the first in the state.

The COVID vaccination requirement is also in effect for all teachers in the district and comes as students return to in-person learning Thursday.

The deadline for submitting proof of vaccination is Nov. 19, which Superintendent Quoc Tran said in a Twitter announcement would “give everyone the opportunity to make their vaccine plans,” KTTV, a Fox affiliate out of Los Angeles, reported.

Currently, children aged 12 and older are eligible for the COVID vaccine.

The California Department of Education told the Los Angeles Times, it is not aware of any other school district in the state that has mandated students be vaccinated.

Teachers in California have been ordered by the state to be vaccinated or undergo weekly COVID testing. But some school districts are mandating the COVID vaccine without the option of testing, according to the Los Angeles Times.

Tran told the news outlet that the move towards the vaccination mandate for students was strongly supported by parents, teachers, and staff.

“We felt that doing the minimum is not quite good enough. We could do more,” Tran said. “We are in the context of constantly crowded places in school settings. The vaccine helps in case our children or staff members contract the virus. They have a lesser chance to be severely impacted.”

In addition to the vaccination policy, the school district will also implement weekly COVID testing for staff and students, regardless of vaccination status. The schools’ mask policy will also be expanded to outdoor areas for students and staff, the announcement said.

The vaccination requirement at Culver City Unified School District follows a rash of school closings across the country as the first day of class started this week and COVID cases spiked among students, causing thousands of children to quarantine.

The Culver City Unified School District is comprised of 7,100 K-12 students and about 900 employees.

The United States began inoculating teens -- like 13-year-old Charles Muro in Connecticut -- with Pfizer-BioNTech's Covid-19 vaccine in May 2021, and Moderna is now the second firm to seek a US green light to administer its shot to adolescents
The U.S. began inoculating teens -- like 13-year-old Charles Muro in Connecticut -- with Pfizer-BioNTech's Covid-19 vaccine in May 2021, and Moderna is now the second firm to seek a U.S. green light to administer its shot to adolescents. AFP / Joseph Prezioso
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