Sadly, this Polk County Public Health initiative is missing information that reflects actual state law.
In a recent meeting we had with the IDPH Director we were able to ask about the campaign and she explained, “That is not an IDPH slogan/campaign, that is a polk county initiative. You are going to have to talk to them about that directly.” Also, when asked about whether they use it on their page or materials she replied, “To my knowledge there are no posts on IDPH website/SM that state that. We can certainly take that back if someone has shared or retweeted something.”
If you see any misleading “no shot, no school” statements on the IDPH website please let us know or write to the director yourself with a link to the statement. You can explain how it is misleading and missing information that accurately reflects Iowa law, IC 139A.8 subsection 4a.
If your county health department disseminates this type of information, please write and ask them to correct it (since we are all for making sure misinformation pertaining to Iowa law is not spread).
If they do not change or update the information sent out or posted, then please address the issue with your county board of supervisors. This can be handled either in person at their next meeting or via email. Make a request to the supervisors to hold the department accountable for their misrepresentation of the law.
Additionally, if you see a school district misinforming parents by making claims that your child “must” receive “xyz” before school or they won’t be allowed to attend school, participate in sports, etc. without any mention of exemptions being accepted under Iowa law, then please email the school the exemption code (139A.8 subsection 4a) and tell them they are disseminating misinformation and they need to accurately reflect Iowa law. If they do not change or correct the information, please report this information on the IA Freedom Violations website where that information will be sent to Director Ann Lebo at the Iowa Department of Education as well as Director Kelly Garcia with IDPH. Please include details on the the emails, forms, conversations, etc. that have occurred between you and the school district and ask them in that submission to properly educate the school officials on state law to prevent this type of misinformation. We are confident that by working together with our local and state officials we can ensure that Iowans will be truly informed on actual state law.