Governor Doug Ducey’s office has stepped in it again.
This time it is over the COVID quarantine policies both the Peoria and Catalina Foothills school districts have formulated with regards to children who have not received the Coronavirus vaccination.
Each district, per existing statewide and county health guidelines, wants unvaccinated children to quarantine for ten days before attending school for in-person instruction.
That is too intrusive to parental rights and children’s freedom (and the fringe Republican base) for Kaitlin Harrier, Governor Ducey’s education advisor who sent letters to both districts demanding, for Mr. Ducey, that they stop the quarantine policy because they claim it violates the newly passed law regarding the dropping of Coronavirus masking guidelines and the requiring of children to receive COVID vaccinations.
READ: Our office today notified the superintendents of Peoria Unified School District and Catalina Foothills School District of their unlawful policy to require unvaccinated students who have a #COVID19 exposure to quarantine. @dougducey pic.twitter.com/iCuCuAoq53
— The 9th Floor (@9thFloorAZ) July 14, 2021
The problem with the Governor’s office interpretation is that the new law says nothing about quarantines whereas state and county health guidelines do.
The two districts see the interpretation of the law that way as well and are not bowing to the Governor’s wishes. They issued a response through their attorneys, saying that both districts were complying with the new provisions of the masking and vaccination nonrequirements. They also added that they were following the quarantine guidelines of the CDC, statewide and county health departments.
Please read the Attorney’s letter to the Governor’s office below.
Arizona Superintendent of Public Instruction Kathy Hoffman, the head education leader of the state, is taking the side of the districts, posting a statement on social media that read:
“Since Governor Ducey claimed victory on COVID-19, he has completely left our young students and those who are unvaccinated behind. With the prohibition of masks and COVID-19 vaccine requirements for public schools, many students – particularly in elementary schools – have limited lines of defense against this virus. A quarantine period for exposed, unvaccinated individuals is one of the only tools left to maintain a safe in-person learning environment.
Schools have a responsibility to ensure that our young, unvaccinated students are not needlessly exposed to COVID-19 or any other illness. I applaud public school districts and charters for following the guidance of public health officials to ensure student and staff safety this upcoming school year.
Finally, it is beyond frustrating that Governor Ducey would choose to single out public school districts in contradiction to guidance on COVID-19 quarantine periods issued by public health experts – just days before the next academic year starts for many schools. I am tired of Arizona’s public schools being a leverage point for the Governor’s political conversation on COVID-19 that growingly has nothing to do with science or public health.”
If this was measles or chickenpox, there would not even be a discussion here about whether or not children should get a vaccination or whether schools should adopt proper safety measures to ensure the health (and survival) of all students, staff, and educators.
People on the right starting with the Governor’s office need to return to reality, stop catering to the science-denying, Know-Nothing wing of their party, and promote policies that would ensure a safe return of children to public schools in the next couple of weeks.
Ms. Harrier’s letter is not a step in that direction. It threatens children’s and educators’ safety.
She should not be dictating health care safety protocols to school districts.
The Governor’s office needs a new message…yesterday.