Three Bend-La Pine teachers were fired Tuesday because they did not comply with a statewide COVID-19 vaccine mandate for staff in public schools, set more than a year ago by Gov. Kate Brown.

In three unanimous votes, the Bend-La Pine School Board terminated Kelly Lundy, an Ensworth Elementary kindergarten teacher, Zack Webb, a 7th grade English teacher and cross country ski coach at La Pine Middle School, and Mark Schulz, a longtime teacher and freshman football coach at Mountain View High School.

In August 2021, the Oregon Health Authority announced temporary requirements for school staff to submit documentation of their vaccination status. Religious and medical exemptions were allowed. Just two months after that, on Oct. 18, 2021, Lundy, Schulz and Webb taught their last day in Bend-La Pine schools. They were then placed on unpaid leave because they did not submit any vaccination records or file for an exemption.

Webb told The Bulletin he has been in limbo with the school district ever since.

“Basically right off the bat, I probably knew I wasn’t going to comply,” Webb, 33, told The Bulletin. “This whole thing, for me, is not about the vaccine. If people want to get it, that’s their choice. That’s more of the fight. It’s not so much that we have to get the jab, it’s that we’re being forced to do something.”

A crowd of about 50 people gathered outside of the school administration building in downtown Bend before the meeting began Tuesday night. People of all ages toted signs that read, “Rehire don’t fire,” and “Drop the mandate.”

Much of the crowd filed into the board meeting room to watch the teachers testify. The crowd erupted with applause after each teacher spoke. After the school board members voted to fire all three teachers and adjourned, people inside the meeting room cried out in protest.

“It’s unfortunate that we’re here, and we support our staff’s rights, their decisions and their autonomy. But the law is clear,” Superintendent Steve Cook said at the meeting.