Protect Our Kids Vigil

1100 Gervais Street,Columbia SC 29208

12 October, 2021

Description

Join us as we call on the South Carolina Legislature to return to the State House and repeal Proviso 1.108 (no mask mandates) and 1.103 (5%) Returning to fully in-person schooling during a particularly contagious variant of COVID-19 during a global pandemic has been incredibly challenging. Students, teachers, parents, administrators, and school boards are working from a disadvantage due to budget Provisos 1.108 and 1.103. SC for Ed has advocated for common-sense mitigation strategies from the outset of the pandemic. The choice of the South Carolina General Assembly and Governor McMaster to not only fight against these strategies, but to make it nearly impossible for local school districts to make decisions for their communities, is demoralizing and counterproductive to a school’s mission to protect its students. For state leaders who have underfunded public schools for over a decade to suggest that school districts have the ability to choose between protecting their students and staff or forgoing state funding is disingenuous. We will never know what would have happened if mitigation strategies had been supported by the state, but we know that even one school death was too many. Therefore we are asking all South Carolinians who want to protect our kids to join us on October 12 at the State House for a vigil honoring all school district staff and students who have died as a result of COVID-19. Please wear a mask and practice social distancing during this event. If you are experiencing COVID-19 symptoms, please visit our website to find other ways to advocate on this issue. Order of Events: 4:00 PM- 6:00 PM: DHEC Education and Vaccine Clinic 5:30 PM: Vigil begins 6:00 PM- 6:30 PM: Speakers Lisa Ellis, SC for Ed Board Member Brenda Murphy, NAACP State President Kristi Schrader, Parent Dr. Ramkumar Jayagopalan, SC Chapter of AAP Nacala McDaniels, Student 6:30 PM- 7:00 PM: Moment of silence and reflection Please pre-register your attendance: https://bit.ly/ProtectOurKidsSC