School board members for the Franklin Special School District (FSSD) have voted unanimously to impose mask mandates.
The mandates are scheduled to begin Monday, according to Nashville Public Radio.
Nashville Public Radio quoted parent Erin McCann, who said mask mandates “are a dystopian nightmare.”
“If you impose mask mandates, you are ushering in tyranny,” McCann reportedly said.
“Masking children is child abuse and imposing mandates means advocating for child abuse. We will not comply [and] we will not ask permission for an exemption.”
The website said certain other parents, however, embraced the mandate.
FSSD officials said on their website that they make decisions based upon guidance from the federal Centers for Disease Control (CDC).
“Our FSSD Together theme for 2021-2022 reflects a balance between maintaining the safety of students, staff members, and families in the face of this continued public health uncertainty, while also delivering high quality teaching and learning experiences that focus on excellent and equitable outcomes for all students,” according to the FSSD website.
“As new information is available, or if public health recommendations for schools change, we will keep our community informed.”
Tennessee Governor Bill Lee last week issued an executive order that grants parents the right to opt their children out of a school’s COVID-19 mask mandate if a school board or a health board enacts one over a district.
“I have signed an EO that allows parents to opt their children out of a school mask mandate if either a school board or health board enacts one over a district,” Lee said on his Facebook page.
“Districts will make the decisions they believe are best for their schools, but parents are THE authority and will be the ultimate decision-makers for their individual child’s health and well-being.”
Lee’s executive order says that a student’s parent or guardian has the right to opt out of any order or requirement for a student in kindergarten through the 12th-grade to wear a face covering at school, on a school bus, or at school functions. To do so they must notify staff members at their local education agency or their student’s school — and in writing.
“Any law, order, rule, regulation that would otherwise limit the enforceability of this order is hereby suspended,” according to Lee’s order.
Parents of children in the Franklin Special School District who do not wish to comply with the mask mandate may complete an opt-out form posted on the FSSD.org website.
Tennessee Governor Bill Lee’s Executive Order 84 allows parents or guardians to opt out from school district mask mandates for their child by completing an opt-out form. The order does not provide exemptions for district employees, visitors or volunteers.
– – –
Chris Butler is an investigative journalist at The Tennessee Star. Follow Chris on Facebook. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Franklin Special School District” by FSSD.org.
Parents should resist this illegal attempt to usurp parental rights.
And the spineless governor needs to squash this mandate garbage now. But of course he will not take decisive action although he has been creating law out of thin air for well over a year while the legislators hide in their basements. So I see little help from the state level.
Unreal how stupid educators are today. Personally I would homeschool at this point. But then, I would let my kid go play in the dirt, with other snot nosed kids, after school. That is how kids build immunity in the first place. Revisit George Carlin on Fat, Stupid Americans and Germs.
The people circumventing or imposing these ridiculous mandates aren’t educators. They are political hack wannabes.
Look at their board members and go figure, DUH! Mask on children is CRUEL and STUPID !!
Evidently money cannot buy COMMON SENSE!