Court Concludes that Ducey’s Anti Universal School Masking Law Isn’t Effective Until September 29
Judge Randall Warner in Maricopa Superior Court ruled last Monday that the budget bill that the governor signed designed to prohibit public schools from implementing a universal masking doesn’t kick in until September 29. That ruling makes it crystal clear that school districts and charter schools can implement a universal masking policy at least up until September 29. That ruling came out of the case in which a vocational-technical teacher sued the
Governor Tries to Prevent Cities & Counties from Mandating Vaccine for their Employees
In addition to the jaw dropping anti-school kid executive orders, Ducey also issued an Executive Order designed to stop cities from requiring their employees to get vaccinated. That EO, called E.O. 2021-18 says that: Any county, city, town or political subdivision official that implements a vaccine mandate is in violation of A.R.S. 36-114 and 36-184 and such actions are punishable by a class 3 misdemeanor and subject to legal action by individuals
Governor Takes Direct Aim at School Health & Safety
EXECUTIVE ORDER PAYS SCHOOLS EXTRA TO JEOPARDIZE STUDENT HEALTH & SAFETY Just when you thought you’d seen the limits of the governor’s poor decision-making, he goes a step further. Last week he went so far as to provide financial incentives for K-12 schools to ignore CDC COVID mitigation recommendations. In a second Executive Order, he offers $7K per pupil in federal money to families that live in districts following CDC
Dr. Gerald’s Latest Analysis: Infection Rates Among Children Accelerating
Mixed news this week. There are suggestive indicators that transmission has moderated among adults this week but transmission among children continues to increase. In a complete reversal, case rates among those 5 – 15 are poised to exceed those of all other age groups. In fact, rates among those 5 – 9 years are at 93% of their prior pandemic peak while rates among those 10 -14 are at 89%
School Mask Bans: Injunctive Relief on the Way
A coalition of organizations including the Arizona School Boards Association, the Children’s Action Alliance, the Arizona Education Association, and the Arizona Advocacy Network filed a legal complaint in Superior Court late Thursday asking for Injunctive Relief on the portions of the health and K-12 budget bills that prohibit school districts from implementing universal masking policies. The action rightly points out that the legislature passed, and the governor signed three budget bills (HB
School-based Testing is Important & Free: Get Your School With the Program!
Ideally we’d have a governor and health department director that support evidence-based interventions to prevent COVID-19 infections in K-12 schools while maximizing the chance for in-person instruction by supporting CDC’s Guidance for COVID-19 Prevention in K-12 Schools. Sadly, that’s not the deck that Arizona voters dealt us. We’ve been dealt a hand that includes a governor who is actively hostile toward universal indoor K-12 masking and a health director unwilling to