Granite School District is telling parents that the ONLY way they’re going to get a respirator or mask exemption for their kids is to come into the schools to fill out a form that asks for much, much more information than is required by Salt Lake County.
In fact, you couldn’t be blamed if you thought that the amount of info the district is extorting about a student’s medical “worthiness” for an exemption borders on, if not actually lives in, Medical Privacy Violation-ville.
How intrusive is the exemption “request?” Let us count the ways….
They require the “release of related medical documentation,” ask that your medical provider “discuss the condition” with Granite school officials, force you to make a legal “attestation” of said condition, and after all that, insist that “the school” shall develop a plan for appropriate accommodations — meaning what, exactly??
It’s almost surprising that they didn’t ask for your kid’s underwear size at this point.
This letter has all the appearance of an intimidation tactic to gather private medical data on your child in gross excess of what the County said was needed to obtain an exemption.
Utah Smoke Signal makes the excellent point that this type of form is collecting “compliance data.” Don’t think for a minute that this form is just going to sit in a dark cabinet somewhere, gathering dust. Data is like a chocolate fountain. It’s not there to just get looked at — it gets used.
Compare and contrast with this exemption form from Jordan School District:
Non-exploitative, simple, not onerous on parents, not creepy…well done, Jordan School District. Notice the wonderful heading of the table: PARENT CERTIFICATION. Enough said.
Sorry to have to return to the lipstick-less pig that is the Granite district form, sometimes we just have to do hard things. Is there a way to possibly redeem this poor excuse of an excuse?
Hey Granite — FTFY:
Parents, DO NOT SIGN the Granite form in its original, unedited state. Or anything like unto it for that matter. Use your own form or even this redacted one above. You do not have to sign away your rights to obtain a respirator or mask exemption. Need further proof? Read the press release issued by Salt Lake County Council Chairwoman Laurie Stringham.
