Submitted by: Lacey Patten

Live or Work in the District: Yes

Child(ren) attending a GPS school: Yes

Comment: Hello, I’d like to ask that no masks be mandated this year in school. This has gone on long enough and everyone is tired of it. Thank you

Submitted by: Heather Goodwin

Live or Work in the District: Yes

Child(ren) attending a GPS school: Yes

Comment: Please consider keeping masks optional for this school year. I'm ok with a mask mandate, I just dont want them taken away for this school year. My sister has terminal cancer, and I want my kids to be able to spend time with her and make memories without worrying about whether or not it's safe to be anywhere near each other. If you want to mandate some kind of barrier, maybe encourage the use of face shields. I will be looking into getting them for my kids. We were lucky to have had a healthy year last year. I'd like to continue that.

Submitted by: Coleman Family

Live or Work in the District: Yes

Child(ren) attending a GPS school: Yes

Comment: I would like to know what COVID-19 mitigation strategies will be enforced within GPS. I have two kids in 3rd and 5th grade (ineligible for vaccine). Both the CDC and the AAP recommend face masks in school settings due to the younger children being ineligible for vaccine, in addition to a large portion of our community choosing to stay unvaccinated. Additionally, the schools dashboard on AZDHS is showing an upward trend of cases and percent positivity, both of those benchmarks being in the red, even in the summer months when children are not in a high density indoor space for 7 hours a day. I want my kids to be able to SAFELY attend school in person. I believe we should continue all mitigation strategies that were employed last year including mask wearing, no sharing of supplies, health dashboards showing cases, and mandatory quarantine (or negative covid test) of kids with known cases and exposure. Thank you for your consideration.

Submitted by: john calleha

Live or Work in the District: Yes

Child(ren) attending a GPS school: Yes

Comment: I'd like to know whether there's going to be a mandatory mask mandate at GPS this fall. If the answer is yes, I like to know what is the supporting scientific data that substantiates that decision.

Submitted by: Andrea Jader

Live or Work in the District: Yes

Child(ren) attending a GPS school: Yes

Comment: We are returning in person this year after spending the entire last year in GGA. Will you please require masks for children to attend school. The new variant has us super nervous that unvaccinated kids will be in danger if not required to wear masks. Thank you.

Submitted by: Mahriah Jessee

Live or Work in the District: No

Child(ren) attending a GPS school: Yes

Comment: What will be done to protect our unvaccinated (not eligible) children from other exposed students? My children will be wearing masks until they’re vaccinated but I am concerned they will be bullied by students who’s parents don’t believe in Covid or require their children to wear masks.

Submitted by: Mary Robbins

Live or Work in the District: Yes

Child(ren) attending a GPS school: Yes

Comment: Much has been said on mask wearing and vaccines and choice, especially in our state. However, children under 12 do not yet have a option to be protected by a vaccine for COVID-19. The American Academy of Pediatrics advises mask wearing in our schools, saying, "Combining layers of protection that include vaccinations, masking and clean hands hygiene will make in-person learning safe and possible for everyone.” "Schools, child care programs, and camps are encouraged to continue to support the use of face masks for children and staff until vaccine is available and uptake within the pediatric population is high enough to prevent transmission of SARS-CoV-2." I can tell you that we do not have a culture of even supporting the use of face masks in Gilbert, let alone recommend them. We recently move to Gilbert, and when we were touring schools in this area (some in the district, some not), on multiple occasions, school staff invited my children to remove their masks, saying “You don’t have to wear a mask here if you don’t want to.” We are all suffering from pandemic fatigue, but we have the strength in us to make one last push to keep our little ones as safe as possible. I ask that Gilbert Public Schools reimplement a mask policy, at the very least for all the elementary schools in the district, until the vaccine can be available to our youngest students.

Submitted by: Sara Flaherty

Live or Work in the District: Yes

Child(ren) attending a GPS school: Yes

Comment: Please require children11 and younger to wear masks. Thank you!

Submitted by: Cara-Lee Alford

Live or Work in the District: Yes

Child(ren) attending a GPS school: Yes

Comment: As a parent of two children with special needs I understand how hard it is for the school district to provide the services our children need virtually. Like many families we made the decision that even though they were less than ideal, the online Global Academy classes were still the best option for our family given the pandemic. Though we have never been notified in any type of writing, through conversations initiated by me after hearing rumors I was informed that our children’s teachers were asked if they felt their online classes were meeting FAPE and their answer was no, so in the fall our children will be required to attend class in person. As special needs parents we knew they could attend in person last year, and we knew how hard online was and what needs it was not meeting because we are the ones filling in the gaps, but it was still the best choice for our family. In addition, the only alternative we have been given to in person classes is to apply for home bound services designed for sick children. We are fortunate because we may qualify for this option because our son is at high risk were he to get COVID. We know many families who will not qualify and do not want to return to in person. Home Bound services only offer 4 hours of academics per week. This is over a 60% and 80% reduction in academic hours for my children from what they received at Global Academy, and they will not be getting all the same online support services they receive for their IEPs last year. In essence, because online was not meeting their needs they are put in a situation to lose even more services. We were not even notified in time to allow us to apply for funding and scholarships to help us send them to online schools that support special needs. Now our choice is taken away at a time where the Delta variant is now the dominant strain and our children are too young to vaccinate. Our children are not afforded the same choices to protect them that general education families are receiving. We are being mandated to send our unvaccinated children to maskless schools with a highly contagious strain of COVID 19, or our children will lose even more support for their IEPs. Our children are being singled out and there was not even an effort I am aware of to reach out to parents during the year to find ways to make the online classes a better fit. There are many small changes that myself and others have repeatedly brought up that would make a huge difference and they were never embraced. We are being forced to put our children at risk when general education parents are given a choice.

Submitted by: Perry Kapadia

Live or Work in the District: Yes

Child(ren) attending a GPS school: Yes

Comment: GCA is not offering any hybrid school this year. Why? Has the Gilbert School District changed its policy or is GCA going rogue? It could give the hybrid option like it did last year via Gilbert Global. The delta variant is really contagious and our vaccination rates are low. If he child/student gets covid then the school will be responsible and accountable for it. The bigger concern is why put kids in harms way. Thanks.

Submitted by: katie moser

Live or Work in the District: No

Child(ren) attending a GPS school: Yes

Comment: hello, from watching the previous board meeting it seemed there was a couple members wanting to revisit the idea of requiring masks for children in the fall semester. I would like to voice that I prefer to stick with the "optional mask" regulation for my daughter attending her 1st grade class this year and to not reinstall the required mask use. thank you.

Submitted by: Randy

Live or Work in the District: No

Child(ren) attending a GPS school: Yes

Comment: If you make my child wear masks and/or required her to be vaccinated I will be withdrawing my child from school and will be running for school board to replace you.

Submitted by: elise kelner

Live or Work in the District: Yes

Child(ren) attending a GPS school: Yes

Comment: please implement a masking requirement for all students, teachers, staff, parents, etc, who are not fully vaccinated. I can always choose to send my child to school with a mask, but it won't do an ounce of good unless those around him who are unvaccinated are masked as well. we have a family member who is very high risk & the new delta variant is spreading rampantly among those who are not vaccinated. please do this until people of all ages are able to get their vaccinations. thank you.

Submitted by: Krista Cardona

Live or Work in the District: Yes

Child(ren) attending a GPS school: Yes

Comment: I am a concerned parent/grandparent of 2 GPS students in grades 2nd and 6th. Our family is very concerned about the COVID Delta variant and, per health experts’ stated concerns, about the variant's impact on unvaccinated people. Because children under the age of 12 cannot be vaccinated at this time and likely not until late 2021/early 2022, it is especially important that our community do all it can to minimize risk to students at the elementary age level and to students of all ages who are unable to get vaccinated for various medical reasons. Even though the Governor/state legislature has taken steps to prevent local communities from mandating masks in our schools, there are many ways Gilbert Public Schools can maximize the health and safety of GPS students, staff, and their families. I am writing to request that the governing board take the following actions to ensure our school communities are as safe as possible by doing the following: 1) Maintain all layers of risk mitigations in all GPS schools that are legally allowed: 3-foot physical distancing in classrooms, hallways, lunchrooms and on buses; improved ventilation; limited large group gatherings indoors; enhanced cleaning; and other mitigations used last school year. 2) Provide an official GPS statement that encourages the use of face masks by students and families while on school busses and district property as recommended by the AZ Department of Health Services and CDC. This includes strongly encouraging students and staff to wear masks while indoors. 3) Provide an official GPS statement that district administrators, teachers, bus drivers, and staff will address bullying and/or harassment directed toward students wearing masks. 4) Continue using and frequently updating the GPS’s school dashboard in addition to considering zip code, district and community trends per the Maricopa County Health District’s school dashboard. 5) Communicate the above information on GPS’s webpage. The start of this school year comes at an unfortunate time when a more communicable variant of COVID is increasing positivity rates in our state and putting the GPS boundaries in a "state of red" for having a high rate of community spread. Our governor and other elected officials seemingly are uninterested in protecting our students. I hope that our local elected officials on the school board will ease the anxiety of the start of this school year by addressing these issues and protecting our students. Sincerely, Krista Cardona

Submitted by: Gerald Bradley

Live or Work in the District: Yes

Child(ren) attending a GPS school: Yes

Comment: I am asking the Board to acknowledge the continuing threat posed by the coronavirus, specifically, the Delta Variant and the health and safety of our elementary-aged school children. I am asking them to take every measure they can to reflect the guidance given to us by the CDC, the President, AZDHS, Dr. Cara Christ and nearly every medical or scientific organization that provided recommendations for how to protect the unvaccinated. The American Academy of Pediatrics has recommended all students, regardless of vaccination status, to wear masks at school. https://services.aap.org/en/pages/2019-novel-coronavirus-covid-19-infections/clinical-guidance/covid-19-planning-considerations-return-to-in-person-education-in-schools/. The CDC recommends unvaccinated students and staff all wear masks at schools. https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/community/schools-childcare/k-12-guidance.html#mask-use The CDC also recommends physical distancing, screening tests, and handwashing. Id. Arizona’s own health director recommends such measures. https://ktar.com/story/4584338/arizona-health-director-recommends-face-masks-for-kids-returning-to-school/ The mitigation measures at schools taken last year appear to have been very successful. We are now on a road to scrapping all or most of those, despite a continued threat to the kids. Doing so is against the advice of most educated authorities on this virus. A vaccination for children is estimated to be coming in the near future. I am asking for consideration of encouragement of children to wear masks, schools practicing social distancing, taking measures as they did last year pertaining to lunches, parent notification when there are positives/quarantines, etc. I understand (as best I can) the political aspect to this issue, but we expect to the Board to make the right decisions no matter who is loudest. What would go wrong if we encouraged mitigation measures like last year for another month or two? We know the answer to the other side of that coin: children dying or ending up with serious health complications. I am a parent going back to in-person school that had kids online last year under the (apparently false) assumption that, if need be, the schools would take measures again to protect kids. It's not too late. Please do not use Governor Ducey's mandate as a shield to do very little, or close to nothing. There is much the district and schools can do to encourage or schools to have children educated as safely as possible until there is a vaccine option. Of course, kids that refused to wear a mask or did not honor social distancing suggestions could not be punished or have any consequences under the mandate, but that is not a reason to forego trying to do the right thing. I ask the District to also encourage schools to consider creative ways where compromises could be made. For example, children that wore masks and wanted such measures could (as much as possible) be placed in classrooms together while children whose parents were not interested in such things could be together in another room. Thank you.