Heated arguments spilled out into the parking lot Tuesday night after a school board in a suburban Tennessee county approved a temporary requirement for masks in elementary schools due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
As debates over masks in US schools have reemerged as the academic year begins, the Board of Education in Williamson County, just south of Nashville, approved the mask requirement for elementary school students, staff and visitors inside all buildings and on buses beginning Thursday and ending September 21, according to information from the school district.
With the highly contagious Delta variant, Covid-19 cases and hospitalizations among children have been on the rise. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends students from kindergarten through grade 12 wear masks in school, along with teachers and visitors, while the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends masks in schools for everyone over age 2.
And real-life evidence about masks leaves little doubt that they work.
During the Tennessee school board’s special session, parents on both sides of the mask issue shared strong opinions.
One parent, who identified himself as Daniel Jordan, a former Marine, told the board, “Actions have consequences. If you vote for this, we will come for you, in a nonviolent way. … In the past, you dealt with sheep; now prepare yourself to deal with lions.”
Jennifer King, a parent and pediatric intensive care physician, said, “As a pediatric ICU physician, we are seeing more younger previously healthy children admitted with respiratory failure and acute respiratory distress syndrome than we have in prior strains, as cases in children are on the rise. This trend will only worsen if we don’t act now.”
During the meeting, the crowd cheered, clapped and booed, and people holding signs were at one point asked to clear the room.
Outside the meeting, crowds heckling masked people as they left the session, with one man saying, “We know who you are. You can leave freely, but we will find you,” video obtained by CNN shows. A Williamson County Sheriff’s Office sergeant could be seen imploring the crowd to be peaceful.
Mask debates resurface in some states
Debates — albeit less heated than the verbal clashes in Williamson County — have unfolded in recent weeks in Florida, where the governor has threatened to withhold salaries of school superintendents and school board members who institute mask mandates in defiance of his executive order that parents must decide how to protect their children in the pandemic.
Parents and school officials in Texas also have been torn over how to keep kids safe after that state’s governor issued an executive order that prevents schools from requiring masks.
And in Georgia, parents are expected to protest Thursday at the Cobb County School District’s central office to demand that the district implement a mask mandate after fifth-graders at one of its elementary schools in suburban Atlanta were sent home this week for virtual learning due to high numbers of positive Covid-19 cases.
The Williamson County board released a statement on the mask debate there, saying, “Our parents are passionate about their children’s education, and that’s one of the reasons for our district’s success over the years. With that said, there’s no excuse for incivility.
“We serve more than 40,000 students and employ more than 5,000 staff members. Our families and staff represent a wide variety of thoughts and beliefs, and it is important in our district that all families and staff have the opportunity to be represented and respected. We will continue to work toward making sure all voices are heard and that all families, staff and community members feel safe sharing their opinions,” the district added.
The temporary mask mandate will allow teachers who are at least 6 feet from students to remove their masks, the district said. The measure applies specifically to elementary schools, and masks are strongly encouraged for middle and high school students.
In late July, the CDC also recommended that localities encourage all teachers, staff, students, and visitors in schools to wear masks indoors, regardless of vaccination status because of the rapid spread of the Delta variant.
