Phoenix Union to prioritize health, safety; will follow CDC guidance

PHOENIX — Superintendent Chad Gestson on Thursday said Phoenix Union High School District will continue to prioritize students’ health and safety and follow Center for Disease Control guidance past Sept. 29.

“Fortunately, late September is still a few weeks away, so we have time to really think about what our next steps are,” Gestson told KTAR News 92.3 FM’s Gaydos and Chad Show. “But what we promised our community is there’s one thing that won’t change, and that is that we’ll continue to do everything in our power to protect them.

“Their health, safety and wellness is our top priority and we’ll stand up, stand boldly and be courageous to do all we need to do to protect them,” Gestson said.

The Phoenix Union High School District was the first to defy Gov. Doug Ducey’s orders that public schools couldn’t require students to wear masks, with many others following suit after.

On Monday, a Maricopa County judge ruled that Phoenix Union High School District, which serves nearly 30,000 teenagers and 4,000 employees, can continue to require face masks on campus until a new law goes into effect on Sept. 29.

The superintendent said a lot can change by late September, such as laws, the virus or guidelines, but the commitment to protect their community remains top-priority.

“We have all been tracking the science and the guidelines and it’s very clear, vaccines, number one, masks, number two,” Gestson said. “We were also really clear with our local community that when we opened our schools up our goal wasn’t just to open. Our goal was to stay open and not close schools, and masks are a critical component to keeping our kids safe and in the classroom.”

However, he added, “The science also says that if we can ever get our community to about 80% vaccination rates that other mitigation measures might be less important like masks, so that’s why we continue to do all we can to get vaccines.”

The Phoenix Union High School District has been dispensing vaccines at all 22 campuses, according to Gestson, in an effort to vaccinate a higher percentage of the population.

If COVID-19 cases continue to worsen and health advisors recommend the use of face masks, Gestson said the district is prepared to lose out on additional funding.

“These funds that are coming from the federal government are actually supposed to help schools open faithfully and stay in in-person learning, so yeah, losing access to those funds is a very big deal to a system like ours,” Gestson said.

“Ultimately, this decision is not about money even if it comes at a price. Losing a life is even a higher price to pay and we’re committed to protecting every single person that comes onto a campus in Phoenix Union.”

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