Greetings -
We are very excited to bring you more information you can use in your communities.
LETTER OF CONCERN
Thank you to everyone of the 8,762 Signatures of the Letter of Concern. Please share widely to gather more signatures as we make a final push to 10,000 signatures.
tinyurl.com/Right2SafeAZSchools
Even if the law is overturned there is still no uniform implementation of universal masking and filtration in schools. We need to keep putting pressure on the Arizona Department of Health, County Boards of Supervisors, and County Health Departments to implement universal masking in schools, counties, cities, and towns. We know universal masking works in schools, and needs to be the common practice while there is high community spread.
RESEARCH
Association Between K–12 School Mask Policies and School-Associated COVID-19 Outbreaks — Maricopa and Pima Counties, Arizona, July–August 2021
There is a new study available to share out on social media channels, community members, and school governing boards. The study out of Arizona that was published September 24, 2021 in the CDC MMWR looked at K-12 schools in Pima and Maricopa counties and found that schools without a mask requirement were 3.5 times more likely to experience a COVID-19 outbreak than schools that had a mask requirement in place.
https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/70/wr/mm7039e1.htm?s_cid=mm7039e1_w
“CDC recommends universal indoor masking in K–12 schools (1); however, masking requirements in K–12 schools vary by school district, county, and state. In the two largest Arizona counties, with variable K–12 school masking policies at the onset of the 2021–22 academic year, the odds of a school-associated COVID-19 outbreak were 3.5 times higher in schools with no mask requirement than in those with a mask requirement implemented at the time school started. Lapses in universal masking contribute to COVID-19 outbreaks in school settings (3); CDC K–12 school guidance recommends multiple prevention strategies. Given the high transmissibility of the SARS-CoV-2 B.1.617.2 (Delta) variant, universal masking, in addition to vaccination of all eligible students, staff members, and faculty and implementation of other prevention measures, remains essential to COVID-19 prevention in K–12 settings”
EVENTS
Creating COVID-Free Schools - Marked By Covid Special Meeting
Sunday, Sep 26, 2021 05:00 PM Pacific Time
The Delta variant is raging just as kids are heading back to school. More and more children are getting sick, suffering from long covid, and dying. In places like Florida, childhood deaths from COVID have more than doubled.
Marked By COVID Activists and allies have been working around-the-clock for months to demand a multi-pronged approach to combating the virus in schools.
This Sunday, we're sharing our expertise with all caregivers, community leaders, and concerned humans interested in working for COVID-free schools.
On this one-hour Zoom call, you'll meet others who share your concerns, get ideas for effective local campaigns to protect your school, strengthen your advocacy skills, and receive tailored materials that will help you engage school boards, administrators, public officials, and the media.
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Open to people across different states. It's planned for 5:00 and I think the objectives are really around 1) building community and connections, 2) making sure people have access to resources and materials for advocacy, and 3) creating a forum for people to ask questions and share victories/ideas
Zoom Registration Link:
https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZAkfuqrqDgpGNKeolG1g24hEnCCKFIrdr3_
Facebook Event Link:
Invest in Arizona Now!
Calling all Registered Voters!
Tomorrow, Sunday, September 26th is the last day to sign a petition or turn in any petition sheets that are out in the community. Every signature matters!
If you have not signed, please find a location. https://tinyurl.com/InvestINArizonaPetitions
TOOLKIT
There will be more updates this week to the Toolkit and the Right 2 Safe Schools Web Site. Please share the filtration information with your communities and school governing boards.
More to come this week as we wait for the decisions from the court regarding the lawsuit.
Thank you for all you do
-Right 2 Safe Schools AZ