Greetings -
After today’s incredible announcement of CDC full authorization of the Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine for ages 16* and older we must take a moment to reflect on how much change you all have brought to Arizona to protect students and the community.
As more and more school districts opt in to mask mandates for the protections of students and staff, there are still more dragging this out by their indecision and giving in to the loud minority.
There are several needs and we hope that this group of amazing supporters can get involved. There are many options:
URGENT CALL TO ACTION!
We are seeking any Phoenix area physicians able to get to the #DVUSD Governing Board Meeting tomorrow to give testimony around universal masking and other proven mitigation measures. We are happy to assist with talking points, but they need physician support, as requested by a board member. Please email us to let us know if you or anyone you know is interested in helping with this effort.
Additionally, there are school board meetings across the state that need to hear from you about the best practices and common sense public health mitigation to help slow the spread of Covid-19.
ADDITIONAL CALL TO ACTION for Non Medical Community Members
The Arizona Center for Investigative Reporting has started a tracking dashboard of active and past Covid-19 outbreaks in Arizona Schools. This is a tremendous help for everyone to make the best decisions for their family members. If you receive an email from your student’s school, or if you have information about cases in schools, please visit their web-site and complete the form.
https://azcir.org/news/2021/08/17/help-azcir-track-covid-outbreaks-arizona-schools/
Please share this resource with others to help get accurate numbers.
WRITE YOUR SCHOOL GOVERNING BOARD
School boards need to hear from the community to ensure they are responding to the needs. Please reach out if you need assistance locating your school district’s governing board email address.
Rock Star Activist Talitha Baker has collated district information and provided links to assist with communicating with Governing Boards. Below are the School Districts that are not implementing all of the public health guidance from the CDC; including universal masking indoors, vaccinations for those eligible, and testing readily available.
School District - Next Board Meeting
Mesa Public Schools - 8/24/21
Chandler Unified School District -8/25/21
Peoria Unified School District - 8/26/21
Deer Valley Unified School District - 8/24/21
Gilbert Public Schools - 8/24/21
Dysart Unified School District - 8/25/21
Glendale Union High School District - 9/2/21
Vail School District - 8/24/21
Higley Unified School District - 8/25/21
Tolleson Union High School District - 8/24/21
Yuma Union High School District - 9/8/21
Florence Unified School District - 9/14/21
Pendergast Elementary School District - 9/7/21
Yuma Elementary School District - 9/13/21
Agua Fria Union High School District - 9/8/21
Queen Creek Unified School District - Tuesdays?
Maricopa Unified School District - 8/25/21
Laveen Elementary School District - 9/7/21
Kingman Unified School District - 9/13/21
Casa Grande Elementary School District - 9/13/21
Sahuarita Unified School District - 8/25/21
Avondale Elementary School District - 9/14/21
Crane Elementary School District - 9/13/21 ??
Buckeye Elementary School District - 9/13/21
Humboldt Unified School District - 9/14/21
Cave Creek Unified School District - 8/23/21 or 9/13/21
J. O. Combs Unified School District - 9/8/21
Fowler Elementary School District - 9/14/21
Prescott Unified School District - 9/7/21
Apache Junction Unified School District - 8/24/21
Balsz Elementary School District - 9/14/21
Tanque Verde Unified School District - 8/25/21
Union Elementary School District - 9/9/21
Murphy Elementary School District - 9/13/21
Wilson Elementary School District - 9/14/21
Sedona-Oak Creek Joint Unified School District - ??
(if a link is missing, there will be one added soon. Also look on Twitter)
Be sure to check out the Toolkit for talking points.
Covid-19 Mitigation Advocacy Toolkit
To do more research for yourself please visit out site: https://right2safeschoolsaz.org/follow-the-science
WHO CAN I FOLLOW ON TWITTER?
There are many great doctors and activists working with the team. Here a few to follow on Twitter to get up to date information and to stay in the know.
Elizabeth Jacobs, PhD - @TheAngryEpi
Cadey Harrel, MD - @CadeyHarrel
Christina Bergin, MD - @CRBerginMD
Bradley Dreifuss, MD - @DreifussMD
Heather Dreifuss, DrPh, MPH & MAT - @DreifussDrPH
Kristin Urquiza - @kdurquiza
Christine Keeves, MPH - @CKeeves
Ruth Franks Snedecor - @3smallhumans
Jessica Wani, JD - @JessicaWaniEsq
Trevor Nelson - @CTrevorNelson
NEW FACEBOOK ORGANIZING TOOL
Along this journey we have been blessed to cross paths with incredible safe school advocates doing incredible work in their communities. We want to amplify your collective efforts by creating a Safe School Directory for others to find their district/charter/private advocacy Facebook groups and advocacy tools.
Share information for the Safe Schools Directory here
https://tinyurl.com/SafeSchoolsDirectoryFBForm
URGENT CALL TO ACTION!
We are seeking any Phoenix area physicians able to get to the #DVUSD Governing Board Meeting tomorrow to give testimony around universal masking and other proven mitigation measures. We are happy to assist with talking points, but they need physician support, as requested by a board member. Please email us to let us know if you or anyone you know is interested in helping with this effort.
www.Right2SafeSchoolsAZ.org