LUCERNE VALLEY, Calif. — The five-member Lucerne Valley Unified School District’s Board of Trustees formally voiced their opposition of Assembly Bill 659 on grounds it is an overreach by a pharmaceutical company seeking to maximize its profits while forcing girls entering 8th-grade to receive a vaccine for a disease that is not contracted in a school setting.
Board Resolution No. 2223-12 opposes AB-659, which would require students advancing to 8th grade receive an HPV vaccine to attend school in person. The bill was introduced on February 9, 2023 by Assemblymember Cecilia Aguiar-Curry.
According to the Resolution, Merck, the sole manufacturer of the Human Papillomavirus (“HPV”) vaccine Gardasil, “recently completed a multi-year project costing $1 billion in its efforts to dramatically increase the production of their HPV vaccine beginning in 2023.” However, “HPV is a sexually transmitted infection and not an infection that spreads in congregate settings,” the Resolution stated.
The LVUSD School District “opposes adding HPV to the list of required immunizations to attend school in-person.” Additionally, “school nursing staff have responsibilities affecting the health of students and adding new state-mandated requirements for school nursing staff would impact their workload.”
In its current form, AB 659 is another example of the government disrespecting parents’ decision making and seeking to force its will onto schools whose sole responsibility is to provide students with a quality education, according to the Resolution.
“The (LVUSD) Board of Trustees are strong proponents of individual responsibility and personal choice, such that students and their families can generally make their own decisions about their personal health outcomes.”
In conclusion, LVUSD Superintendent, Peter Livingston is directed to transmit this Resolution to Governor Gavin Newsom; the authors and coauthors of AB 659, our District’s State Representatives Tom Lackey and Shannon Grove, and to the chairs and vice chairs of the State Assembly and State Senate Health Education Committees.