Peoria Unified and Catalina Hills School Districts warned by office of Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey

Letter states school district’s quarantine policy for students not vaccinated against COVID-19 is unlawful

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Peoria Unified School District was warned by Gov. Doug Ducey’s office to rescind a policy aimed at unvaccinated students.

Ole Olafson, Reporter

The Peoria Unified School District and the Catalina Foothills School District have been warned by the office of Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey, that a rule aimed at protecting students and faculty from unvaccinated students who may be exposed to COVID-19 is unlawful.

Both school districts have reportedly adopted a policy requiring any unvaccinated student who is exposed to COVID-19 to quarantine for a period of 10 days.

Azfamily.com reports that both school district superintendents received letters from Kaitlin Harrier, Ducey’s education policy advisor, warning the districts that their quarantine policy for unvaccinated students goes against a new law which prohibits school districts from requiring students be vaccinated or wear face coverings to participate in in-person instruction.

In the letter, dated July 14, Harrier stresses that parents of minor children are ultimately responsible for deciding whether their child is vaccinated and children under age twelve are not eligible to be vaccinated at this time.

Harrier contends in the letter that the quarantine policy could potentially damage the student’s educational opportunities by keeping them out of the classroom for extended periods or causing them to be held back for lack of attendance.

The letter demands that the school districts rescind their quarantine policies immediately.

PUSD representative Danielle Airey issued a statement in regards to the letter.

“We look forward to working with the governor’s policy advisors and ADHS if there is a need to make changes to our current practices and to communicate any changes directly to our community,” Airey said in the statement.