Category: Uncategorized

Breaking! The Oklahoma Supreme Court rules school districts, not the governor or legislature, should decide on mask mandate. They ALSO rule that mask mandates must be an opt-in option and therefore, parents who choose not to mask do not have to opt-out as demonstrated by districts like Oklahoma City Public Schools who made parents opt out if they did not want their child wearing a mask.

The greatest level of parental right is opt-in so this was a win!

Schools still have to meet all criteria set forth in SB 658  and the mask issue must be brought up at each meeting and take parent input.

Again, the only part of the original bill that the Oklahoma Supreme Court removed was that in order for schools to mandate masks the Governor must declare a state of emergency first. In case you missed it, Gov. Kevin Stitt said repeatedly he would not declare another state of emergency over the COVID-19 pandemic. The court said this meant the law acted as a “state wide prohibition for masks for public schools.”

Now that SB658 has been clarified, Oklahoma schools should obey the entire law. We are still getting reports that schools are telling students, especially 7th graders, that they can’t return to school or play sports without taking another Dtap/Tdap.

SB 658 clearly states that all school MUST provide opt-out information on all vaccine “requirements”.

Action: Parents or their attorney may write a letter to the school district or have them also write a litigation threat letter.

Oklahoma allows vaccine exemptions for school children based on personal, religious, and medical reasons. In addition to exemption law, there is a more recent section of law that requires school districts to inform parents of exemption options.

Per SB 658, which went into effect July 1st 2021, 

“The State Department of Education shall provide and ensure that each school district in this state provides, on the school district website and in any notice or publication provided to parents regarding immunization requests, the following information regarding immunization requirements for school attendance:
“For school enrollment, a parent or guardian shall provide one of the following:
1. Current, up-to-date immunization records; or
2. A completed and signed exemption form.” 

Is your school following the law?

We have received an unprecedented number of reports this year of schools that are violating state law. We need your help to make sure that this important section of state law is followed. We have included sample email and phone scripts as well as contact information to make this as easy as possible!

If your school district is not in compliance with SB 658, please contact the following:

1. Because the State Department of Education is supposed to ENSURE that this law is followed by all school districts, please contact State Superintendent of Education Joy Hoffmeister at 405-521-3301 first.
2. Email the State Board of Education by copy and pasting the following email addresses.
   carlisha@impacttulsa.com, jmonies@saxum.com, estelaokc@gmail.com, brianrichardbobek@gmail.com, trentsmith88@me.com, sarahtlepak@gmail.com
3. Your local school district’s Superintendent, School Board, Principal, and or school nurse. You should be able to find their contact information by searching your school districts website. if you need assistance with this, reach out to your OKHPR Senate District Captain. (If you do not know who your OKHPR Senate District Captain is, email us at captains@okhpr.com.)
4. Governor Kevin Stitt at 405-521-2342 or online HERE.
5. The following legislators
   • Senate Pro Tempore Greg Treat
     • 405-521-5632
     • greg.treat@oksenate.gov
   • Speaker of the House Charles McCall
     • 405-557-7412
     • charles.mccall@okhouse.gov
   • Your State Senator (His/her contact information can be found here)
   • Your State Representative (His/her contact information can be found here)

Please feel free to use the following phone or email scripts if you are unsure what to say.

Phone script for Joy Hoffmeister’s office
“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 understand that it is the State Department of Education’s job to ensure that school districts are following SB 658, so I wanted to contact your office to ensure that this is addressed.”

Email script for the Oklahoma State Board of Education
“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.

The violation I noticed is on the schools website/ notice sent out on (date). I wanted to bring this violation to your attention.

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

Script for your local school district’s Superintendent, School Board, Principal, or school nurse
Phone:
“Hi I am calling 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 violation I noticed is on the schools website/ notice sent out on (date). I wanted to bring this violation to your attention so that it can be addressed.”

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.

You can read the full law here: http://webserver1.lsb.state.ok.us/cf_pdf/2021-22%20ENR/SB/SB658%20ENR.PDF. Please see section 1, E.

The violation I noticed is on the schools website/ notice sent out on (date). I wanted to bring this violation to your attention.

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

Script for Governor Stitt, President Pro Tempore Greg Treat and Speaker of the House Charles McCall.
Phone:
“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.”

Email:
“I am emailing because I am a resident of _______ school district. I noticed that the school is in violation of SB 658. The violation I noticed is on the schools website/ notice sent out on (date). I wanted to bring this violation to your attention. so that it can be addressed
Name
Address”

Script for YOUR State Legislators
Phone:
“Hi I am calling because I am a constituent and 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.”

Email:
“Subject line: From your constituent
Dear Senator or Representative _______
I am constituent of your district and a resident of _______ school district. I noticed that the school is in violation of SB 658. The violation I noticed is on the schools website/ notice sent out on (date). I wanted to bring this violation to your attention. so that it can be addressed
Name
Address”

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.

Oklahoma Watch has reported that the Oklahoma State Medical Association spent more money than any other Oklahoma organization on independent expenditures. Spending more than $814,000 on a variety of legislative races.

Which races did they spend those big bucks on?

The following expenditures can be viewed from the Oklahoma Guardian Ethics website here, and here.

$72k on mailers for the following candidates:
Ty Burns
Ross Ford
John Haste
Darcy Jech
Mark McBride
Kevin Wallace

$66k on mailers for the following candidates:
Rhonda Baker
Bill Coleman
Jared Deck
Kyle Hilbert
John Kane
Ken Luttrell
Anthony Moore
Josh West

$202k on mailers, phone calls, texting, and door to door canvassing for the following candidates:
Rhonda Baker
Keith Barenberg
Ty Burns
Bill Coleman
Jared Deck
Ross Ford
John George
John Haste
Kyle Hilbert
John Kane
Ken Luttrell
Cody Maynard
Marcus McEntire
Cynthia Roe
Brenda Stanley
John Talley
George Young
Hunter Zearley

$473k on digital, newspaper, and radio ads for the following candidates:
Rhonda Baker
Keith Barenberg
Ty Burns
Bill Coleman
Jared Deck
Ross Ford
John George
John Haste
Darcy Jech
John Kane
Ken Luttrell
Cody Maynard
Mark McBride
Marcus McEntire
Anthony Moore
Gabe Renfrow
Cynthia Roe
Brenda Stanley
John Talley
Kevin Wallace
Josh West
George Young
Hunter Zearley

$7k on digital, phone calls, and texting for the following candidates:
Collin Duel
Hunter Zearley

We expect dark money and OSMA to campaign hard during the runoff election!

While we could feel defeated, we need to use this to motivate ourselves to volunteer and donate. We have beat OSMA before, but we had a literal army of fired up mama bears! Many of our members seem to have gotten complacent. Speaking face to face with people as a grassroots volunteer beats mailers and ads nearly EVERY TIME! But we have to have the manpower and money to get it done. We have spent more than half of our war chest and need to replenish it to fight against far-left candidates who want to mask, test, and segregate us and our children in the name of public health.

Official OKHPR members get the first look at the OKHPR-PAC voting guide! OKHPR is proud to endorse 38 candidates for legislative office, 8 county commissioners, and 1 candidate for district attorney.

Our volunteers graded over 130 surveys and conducted nearly 40 interviews to formulate the guide. Please donate to the PAC or Foundation if you appreciate this resource and would like to help us to continue this work!

1. Governor Stitt’s A+ voting record. A voting record carries significant weight. Any candidate can say they are a freedom fighter, but it takes guts to actually vote like one! Governor Stitt has signed all OKHPR-PAC supported measures that have been brought to his desk.
2. Governor Stitt used his power as Governor to protect parents from having to take a re-education class with the Oklahoma State Health Department when applying for a vaccine exemption. Without Governor Stitt unelected bureaucrats would be using their unchecked power to limit parental rights. If you don’t remember or were not a part of OKHPR back then, you can read about how Governor Stitt protected parents here.
3. Governor Stitt was ready to call a special session to address employee mandate issues in 2021. It was the Oklahoma State Senators who would not get on board. Oklahoma lacked the signature of 12 Senators in order to call a special session. Find out if your Senator supported a special session here.
4. Governor Stitt’s A survey score. Read through the OKHPR-PAC survey questions here.
5. The majority of official OKHPR members voted to endorse Governor Stitt.
6. Governor Stitt is the most viable candidate for Governor.
   – “Sooner Poll released results on May 20 and their independent findings show:
   “Stitt dominates in the Republican Primary for Governor”. Primary results show stability in Gov. Stitt’s numbers but declining support for Sherwood
   – Stitt: 66.7%
   – Sherwood: 4.6%
   – Joel Kinstel: 3.5%
   – Moira McCabe: 1.2%
   – Undecided 24.1%- Overall, Governor Stitt’s job approval rating is at 77.7% among primary voters.
   – According to American Viewpoint, “even after facing nearly $10 million in attack ads, Governor Stitt is in a commanding position in the primary”. Read their full findings here.
7. Trump endorsed Governor Stitt is the best option to beat F-rated Joy Hoffmeister, who will likely be the Democratic nominee for Governor.