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Status: Closed — this petition is no longer accepting signatures.

MPCS Follow Jeffco Re-Start

MPCS Follow Jeffco Re-Start

Closed — 62 supporters Verified

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Started by Heather Dody 5 years, 11 months ago

As Health and Wellness Professionals, as well as concerned parents and caregivers of children at Mountain Phoenix Community School, we have grave concerns about the damaging physical and mental health impacts of the prevailing COVID-19 policies and recommend an approach we call Focused Protection.

As immunity builds in the population, the risk of infection to all – including the vulnerable – falls. We know that all populations will eventually reach herd immunity – the point at which the rate of new infections is stable – and that this is not dependent upon a vaccine. Our goal should, therefore, be to minimize mortality and social harm until we reach herd immunity.

The most compassionate approach that balances the risks and benefits of reaching herd immunity is allowing those at minimal risk of death to normally live their lives to build up immunity to the virus through natural infection.

Current MPCS policies are producing devastating effects on our community. The results (to name a few) are little to no education, decreased income for families that need to stay home with kids instead of working, giving our kids a fear-based mindset, and a lack of Waldorf in vision and execution. Keeping students out of school is a grave injustice.

How is it that MPCS chooses to follow Jeffco Public Health on some recommendations but not all recommendations? For example, MPCS chooses to implement mask-wearing, social distancing, and special procedures; however, they choose not to follow the Re-Start Jeffco plan, where ALL kids through 5th grade are going to school in-person full time if they choose.

Also, have the leaders at MPCS looked up the science on mask-wearing, or are they just following what others are doing? The science shows that masks are not effective in the spread of disease. We know that the coronavirus particle size is so small that masks do not block it. In addition, if one looks at OSHA’s website, the organization that developed the rules and regulations for mask-wearing, one will find that mask-wearing is actually dangerous in healthy individuals. By wearing masks, we are decreasing our oxygen by up to 20% and increasing the carbon dioxide we breathe, which, according to OSHA, leads to things like headaches, loss of attention, and more. This is not a good state of being when trying to learn. Besides, we are re-breathing the germs left on our masks that happens every time one breathes out.
Lastly, it is very troubling that the leadership of MPCS seems to have lost the Waldorf way. To quote Rudolf Steiner, “Our highest endeavor must be to develop free human beings who are able of themselves to impart purpose and direction to their lives. The need for imagination, a sense of truth, and a feeling of responsibility- these three forces are the very nerve of education.”

This petition requests that the administration and governing council of MPCS:

  • Try to preserve the Waldorf philosophy better and follow the Re-Start Jeffco plan. This includes 100% in-person learning for students in grades PreK-5.
  • This also includes following the OSHA guidelines on mask-wearing that say prolonged mask use is not healthy. “…surgical masks have been recommended by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) as a last resort, when no National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) approved respirator is available. Using surgical masks as a form of personal protective equipment (PPE) may lead to adverse health effects.”(1) According to OSHA regulation 1910.134(e)(1), “The employer (MPCS) shall provide a medical evaluation to determine the employee’s (kids and staff) ability to use a respirator, before the employee is fit tested or required to use the respirator in the workplace.” This needs to be evaluated at the school.

We urge those in charge at MPCS to check their dedication to these kids’ education. Consider health circumstances from ALL the data, as well as things like education, fresh air/oxygen and carbon dioxide levels, mental/emotional health, and how your decisions are affecting these things and our children.

Thank you.

1. Sanchez, Erin, "Filtration Efficiency of Surgical Masks" (2010). Graduate Theses and Dissertations. https://scholarcommons.usf.edu/etd/1760

Updates

November 2, 2020

The growth of this movement has now secured the attention of the school board members. I am currently finalizing the formal request for a meeting to present our提出的 recommendations regarding the return to standard operations.

12 Comments

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Beth Chambers
5 years ago Featured

I withdrew my child from MPCS because of the “safety” procedures and protocols. I implore the administration if MPCS to stop the hemorrhaging of families and staff leaving by staying true to the foundations of Waldorf education. We are a charter and through that freedom we are not beholden to Jeff Co School Board threats about reducing price per pupil. It saddens me that MPCS is now contributing to the same angst and fear that every other traditional public school is. Anthrosophy is an important part of the whole child. Why does it all of a sudden not matter?

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Nancy Gunvordahl
5 years ago Featured

I’m an educator and do not support requiring developing children to re-breathe their own waste products in order to attend school. This practice is pointless at best and dangerous/counterproductive at worst. Please reconsider your policies. There is no need for people to wear masks unless they’re in the presence of an active infection for 15 minutes or longer. Humans must breathe fresh air in order to function normally. Thank you.

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Sandy Garcia
5 years ago Featured

As a Physical Therapist and a mom the three teens, I am fighting for the rights of EVERY child to return to normal and in person education! Open the schools and stop the lies and the fear!

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Anonymous
5 years ago Featured

All day in person schooling is desperately needed for the mental health of children. MPCS’s slow hybrid model is not sufficient enough.

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Anonymous
5 years ago Featured

Our family strongly agrees with this letter. We urge MPCS to reconsider their current restrictions and guidelines.

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Trisha Klyber
5 years ago Featured

We had to leave mountain Phoenix because the devastating effects of online learning on my child with sensory processing issues

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Jason Gold
5 years ago

I want my kid in school. PreK children should NOT be wearing masks.

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Anonymous
5 years ago