TIME SENSITIVE ACTION ALERT! Oppose SB 520

*TIME SENSITIVE!*
Being heard on Tuesday February 27th:

OPPOSE SB 520 by Senator Pugh
This bill would take away the authority to accredit public schools from OSDE and give that responsibility to the Commission for Educational Quality and Accountability.

* ACTION ALERT*! Call and email the members of the Senate Education committee and let them know you OPPOSE this bill!

Adam Pugh (Chair – R)
pugh@oksenate.gov
(405) 521-5622

Ally Seifried (Vice Chair – R)
ally.seifried@oksenate.gov
(405) 521-5555

Micheal Bergstrom (District 1 – R)
bergstrom@oksenate.gov
(405) 521-5561

Julie Daniels (District 29 – R)
daniels@oksenate.gov
(405) 521-5634

Carri Hicks (District 40 – D)
hicks@oksenate.gov
(405) 521-5543

Casey Murdock (District 27 – R )
murdock@oksenate.gov
(405) 521-5626

Dewayne Pemberton (District 9 – R)
pemberton@oksenate.gov
(405) 521-5533

Lonnie Paxton (District 23 – R)
paxton@oksenate.gov
(405) 521-5537

Dave Rader (District 39 – R)
rader@oksenate.gov
(405) 521-5620

Jo Anna Dossett (District 35 – D)
dossett@oksenate.gov
(405) 521-5624

Kristen Thompson (District 22 – R)
kristen.thompson@oksenate.gov 
(405) 521-5592

Grant Green (District 28 – R)
green@oksenate.gov
(405) 521-5547

Dusty Deevers (District 32 – R)
Dusty.Deevers@oksenate.gov
(405) 521-5567

Sample Email

Subject Line: No on SB 520 (If you are a constituent of one of these senators, please add FROM YOUR CONSTITUENT to the subject line of his or her email.)

Dear Senators,
I am writing to ask that you please vote no on SB 520.
We elected Ryan Walters in a primary, a primary runoff and a general election and now Sen. Adam Pugh wants to strip the ability to grant accreditation from Ryan Walters and the Board of Education. We are asking for the following senators to vote no. Without accreditation, there will be no teeth to hold schools accountable to support parental rights.
Thank you
NAME
ADDRESS

Copy and paste these emails into the CC line of your email for quick and easy emailing!

Pugh@oksenate.govAlly.Seifried@oksenate.govbergstrom@oksenate.govdaniels@oksenate.govmurdock@oksenate.gov,

pemberton@oksenate.govpaxton@oksenate.govrader@oksenate.govKristen.thompson@oksenate.gov,

grant.green@oksenate.govdusty.deevers@oksenate.gov

Report SB 658 Violations to the State Department of Education!

SB 658 is an important medical choice bill for parents. it went into effect July 1st of 2021. This bill provides many protections which are detailed here, but perhaps the biggest change is that schools are now required to inform parents that vaccine exemptions are an option!

Since July 2021, OKHPR has continued to demand that all Oklahoma school districts follow this law. According to SB 658, the Oklahoma State Department of Education is supposed to ensure that EVERY school district is following this portion of the law. Thanks to our new State Superintendent, Ryan Walters, the State Department of Education is working hard to do so.

You can now report a school that is not following this law directly to the State Department of Education here.

In a recent edition of The Roar Release, we shared the names of many schools in Oklahoma that are violating state law, SB 658. After sharing that list we were able to remove a few schools that updated their website and social media due to your amazing advocacy! Unfortunately, we also received more reports of violations and have added several more schools to our list.

Is your school following the law? Click the button below to find out!

You can help us compile a more exact list by checking your local school district’s website. Click on the enrollment section and see if your school is including the required language when mentioning vaccination requirements. You can also check their social media. It is required by law that EVERY notice about vaccination requirements has the quoted language! This includes social media posts or email notices.

If your school is not following the law, please report that to us HERE so we can update our list! You can also print a sample letter explaining how the school has violated SB 658 from your membership dashboard. We recommend mailing this letter to the school, superintendent, or school board. You should also alert your State Senator and State Representative.


We need your help to make sure that this important section of state law is followed. This week we want to focus our efforts on the Oklahoma State School Board. The State Department of Education is responsible for ensuring that this law is followed by all school districts, so we must make sure they are aware! We have included sample email and phone scripts as well as contact information to make this as easy as possible!

  1. Copy and paste the following emails into the ‘bcc’ portion of your email. These are the emails for all of the members of the Oklahoma State Board of Education. You can use the following sample email as well!sarah.lepak@ok.gov, suzanne.reynolds@ok.gov, katie.quebedea@ok.gov, donald.burdick@ok.gov, kendra.wesson@ok.gov

Sample email:

“To whom it may concern,
I am emailing because I am a resident of _______ school district. I noticed that the school is in violation of SB 658. This law went into effect on July 2021 and it states that Schools and universities must notify parents and students that they may opt-out of vaccination mandates using legally allowed exemptions on their website and in all notices regarding vaccine requirements. The law also states that it is the State Department of Education’s job to ensure that school districts are following SB 658.

Please let me know what is being done to bring the school district into compliance with the law.
Name
Address”

2. Second, please contact State Superintendent of Education Ryan Walters at 405-521-3301. You may use the following phone script.

“Hi I am calling because I am a resident of _______ school district. I noticed that they are in violation of SB 658 because they are not informing parents about vaccine exemptions on their website or in a notice sent out on (date). I wanted to contact your office to ensure that this is addressed.”

Lastly, share this blog and the image at the top of this page with your friends and family to spread the word that ‘No Shots, No School, Not True!”


Resources related to vaccine law can be found on the resources page of our website. Here you will find the Oklahoma vaccine exemption form (which is used for school or daycare entry), read vaccine law, and read our vaccine exemption FAQ which includes information on what facilities are required to accept a vaccine exemption, how to fill out the form, what to do if your exemption is denied, and how to report a school that is violating the law.

Republican Senators Select Greg McCortney (Ada) as Senate Pro Tem Designee- What Do We Do Now?

Despite today’s outcome, we are still winners because we have educated Oklahomans about the process of a secret leadership vote that many are not aware of. This vote today is mostly symbolic, and today’s winner (PRO TEM DESIGNEE) will get access to the Senate Campaign Funds that can be used to influence the OFFICIAL Leadership vote that will take place after this year’s elections in November. Read that again, this is NOT over yet! There are nearly a dozen Senate races (all districts with an odd number) that could still flip this Pro Tem Leadership vote, including McCortney’s own seat in Ada.
We are asking all of you to do a few things to try to change this outcome.
1. Share this video, especially with people in Ada.
2. Donate $10.00 for each Senate race that is open (120.00 or more)
3. Register to vote as a Republican (remember only Republican senators get to pick their Leader since they are in Majority)
4. Work a Senate campaign in your area or near by (coming soon).
5. Pray!
We are dedicated to heavily vetting these new candidates and we do mostly know which current senators voted for McCortney.  We are adding questions related to this leadership issue in our candidate survey as well. Please take this frustration and DO SOMETHING! We must get out of the boat, and do something new or bigger to change outcomes. One of our greatest enemies is not an individual but apathy.

Donate to okhpr.com & mark your calendar for these dates to remember:
April 5th  – Candidate Filing

June 18th Primary Election
These are vital to our success!
We are dedicated to staying the course. Please join us as we cannot do this alone.
Sincerely,
Liza Greve, Executive Director,
Oklahomans for Health & Parental Rights