Tell Your Local School Board: Idahoans Care about Public Health

ACTION PAUSED - May resume at a later date. Almost 1,300 of you write to your school boards! 

​

You told local school board members: 

 

As a member of the X community, I am writing you in support of in-school mask requirements to help protect our community. If you have already instituted such a requirement, I want to thank you. If not, I am writing to ask that you immediately institute a face mask requirement in our district’s schools. We are now in the fourth wave of the COVID pandemic, and this wave is hitting Idaho much harder than any wave before, with all our hospitals at OR near full capacity and rationing care. 

More children and young people are getting sicker with the Delta variant and we do not want to see Idahoans become even more of a statistic. The evidence is in: Idaho school districts that are practicing good COVID protocols are seeing fewer sick kids, teachers, and staff.

​

The only reason we are facing this latest COVID wave is because not enough Idahoans are taking the simple and common-sense steps to stem the spread of this airborne illness: masking indoors and in public, social distancing and getting vaccinated if they are able to. Even worse, there is a vocal minority in our community spreading disinformation and behaving poorly — including aggressive and inappropriate demonstrations at school board meetings across the state — and forcing the rest of us to bend to their misinformed and dangerous views, further endangering our children, school staff, their families, and our community.

We know you may face just such aggressive behavior from far-right activists in our district and I want to you know that you have our utmost support and respect for your public service. 
 
The Idaho Department of Health and Welfare recommends wearing masks in public areas and refers people to the expert advice at the Centers for Disease Control website (https://coronavirus.idaho.gov). The CDC both recommends facemasks for everyone in high transmission areas, which is virtually all of Idaho (https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/prevent-getting-sick/diy-cloth-face-coverings.html), and fully recommends masks in schools (https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/community/schools-childcare/k-12-guidance.html). This is our nation’s best scientific and public health advice at this time and I urge you to heed it for the benefit of our community. 
 
As one of your constituents, I want you to follow these guidelines and do your part to help protect our community, our state, our nation and the world from the serious consequences of this pandemic. This community will support you when you take the brave, scientifically informed decision.

If you have not already done so, institute a mask requirement NOW.

​