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DALLAS (LifeSiteNews) A Texas school district wants to get its eligible students to take the COVID-19 vaccines so badly that it is offering them a small cash prize in exchange for taking the shot.

The Dallas Independent School District announced on Monday a new incentive program for students old enough to get the shot. Previously jabbed students can also get paid a $50 gift card if they upload their proof of vaccination by November 15.

The district has a total of 145,000 students in K-12 across its 230 schools, but not all students are eligible – only those aged twelve and older. Additionally, its 22,000 staff members are eligible for a $500 incentive if they get jabbed by November 15.

“Dallas ISD is offering a one-time $50 vaccination incentive to students ages 12 and older who are fully vaccinated against COVID-19,” the September 13 announcement said. Parents are required to “fill out the proof of vaccination form and submit a copy of the student’s COVID vaccination card” or get a letter from a medical provider affirming inoculation.

While the incentive and reporting are “voluntary,” the information will be used for contact tracing and quarantining.

“The information provided will help the district determine how many students who are eligible have been fully vaccinated and facilitate the contact tracing and quarantine processes, which are different depending on vaccination status,” the district said.

“According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID vaccine is safe for children who are at least 12 years of age,” the district said in a question-and-answer about vaccine safety.

The announcement came shortly after Dallas County told parents to get their kids jabbed.

“It is important that if you are able to vaccinate your child, to do it today,” county spokesperson Christian Grisales told local news station WFAA on Friday.

“Children make up less than 1% of COVID deaths in both Dallas and Tarrant counties, but until there are zero, Grisales said parents need to do what they can to protect their kids,” WFAA reported.

There has been a total of 8,369 deaths attributed to COVID in Tarrant and Dallas counties. That represents less than 0.1% of the nearly 5-million-person combined population the two counties.

While the school district and parents may think the jabs are the best way to keep kids safe, they have posed risks for teenagers and younger.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) acknowledged a “likely association” between the COVID shot and heart inflammation in adolescents in June.

“Health officials have identified 1,339 preliminary reports of myopericarditis among people under 30 years of age reported to the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System,” the CDC said in an update in August. However, past research has found that the VAERS system likely only identifies 1% of all adverse reactions.

Others, including those now deemed eligible to safely take the COVID vaccines, have faced the consequences of it.

A 12-year-old girl named Maddie de Garay is now wheelchair-bound after receiving the Pfizer jab.

“Maddie immediately experienced pain in her arm where she had been vaccinated,” LifeSiteNews reported in June. “Within the next 24 hours, she developed severe abdominal and chest pain.”

Maddie and her mom shared the story with Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) during an event about inoculation safety and risks.

Her situation deteriorated.

“Over the next 2 1/2 months, Maddie’s mother said her abdominal, muscle, and nerve pain became unbearable,” LifeSite reported. “Maddie suffered from gastroparesis, nausea and vomiting, erratic blood pressure, memory loss, brain fog, headaches, dizziness, fainting, seizures, verbal and motor tics, menstrual cycle issues, lost feeling from the waist down, lost bowel and bladder control, and she had a nasogastric tube placed because she lost the ability to eat.”

LifeSiteNews has produced an extensive COVID-19 vaccines resources page. View it here.