Board of Trustees Expand Requirements for Public Safety Students at BCTC

​​​​At a special meeting of the Riverside Community College District Board of Trustees on Thursday (October 28), the Board of Trustees approved an addendum to Resolution No. 02-21/22 which mandated COVID-19 vaccinations for students and employees.

Under the addendum, Moreno Valley College students attending law enforcement courses and training at Ben Clark Training Center will be allowed to resume their classes, and employees who teach those courses can access the facility. The District was notified that the vast majority of students and instructors are or will become employees of Riverside County, which has not mandated vaccinations for its employees.

However, students and instructors will need to submit to weekly testing and be required to wear a mask when using BCTC facilities.

“We have come to understand that BCTC is a unique entity as it relates to the terms of the previously approved resolution," said Mary Figueroa, Board president and retired correctional  counselor/peace officer. “Right now, there is a critical need for corrections, deputies, dispatch and support services personnel throughout the county, which is the fourth largest county in the state."

RCCD has a 70-plus year history of working with public safety departments to train and educate cadets and department personnel. At BCTC, the Riverside County Sheriff's and Probation departments are key partners in MVC's law program. Currently, the Riverside County Sheriff's Department hiring website says they have a “need for law enforcement professionals, correctional deputies, cooks, dietitians, storekeepers, emergency communications officers, forensic pathologists, aircraft mechanics, accounting and office staff."

The  addendum allows Wolde-Ab Isaac, chancellor of the District, to work with local public safety leaders to ramp up training to meet these and other local public safety hiring needs. However, the District will strictly enforce testing and face mask coverings.

“In no way is the District turning its back or even the page on the established resolution," Figueroa said. “The Trustees continue to believe that the best course of action is to be vaccinated for the greater good of our community. However, we also hold an obligation to our community partners when it comes to customized training and courses. These programs are closed, meaning the students are part of a cohort and will be confined to a single location and interact only with each other.

“As community colleges it is important that we meet the needs of our  community partnerships, and with this  addendum that is what we are doing — meeting  our communities public safety needs."​​​​