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  2021-10-05

  Child's Letter to Doug Ducey

  Twitter user @amybchan tweeted a photo of a letter that a 7-year-old student wrote to Governor Doug Ducey. She tells him that she and her sister both got COVID and asks him to make masks at school mandatory. Governor Ducey has not only refused to mandate masks at K-12 schools in Arizona but he has punished public school districts in the state that have chosen to require masks by withholding federal funding meant for COVID mitigation strategies. Parents, students, and educators have been outspoken about this policy and the federal government has weighed in over the mishandling of these COVID relief funds. My children are in a district that requires masks and have put in a grant application for those specific funds but have been told that it is "pending review" and has not released the money to the district. It is hurting districts who are actually trying to keep students and families safe and rewarding schools for not following proven mitigation strategies. At a time when children under 12 cannot get the vaccine this is especially troubling to many Arizona families.