Tennessee Speaker of the House Cameron Sexton (R-Crossville) and more than 70 other Republican state representatives on Wednesday formally requested that Gov. Bill Lee call a special session of the General Assembly.
Sexton said last week he and other legislators want to restrain public school officials who might mandate or have already mandated that students wear COVID-19 masks.
Sexton, in a letter to Lee, said members of the Tennessee General Assembly must “convene and address misdirected and mandated responses to COVID-19 by local entities and officials.”
“It is of the utmost urgency to move quickly due to the potential of significant harm to Tennesseans. We believe there is a need to curtail the overreach by independent health boards and officials, confirm a parent’s right to make decisions that impact the mental and physical health of their children, provide support and direction to schools to ensure educators are properly compensated for COVID-19 leave, and protect all Tennesseans from misdirected mandates designed to limit their ability to make their own decisions.” Sexton wrote.
“The six independent health boards, along with unelected officials, have made and will continue to make decisions that stifle access to educational opportunities for our children and infringe on their freedoms and liberty. Some of these mandates have been accompanied by threats of reckless endangerment, school closure, and segregating students based on vaccination status.”
Sexton also said that General Assembly members must “evaluate the ongoing discrimination of Tennesseans by prohibiting their access to buildings due only to their vaccination status.”
You can read Speaker Sexton’s letter to Gov. Lee here:
SpeakerLetterforSpecialSession
Members of the Williamson County School Board said Tuesday that students there will have to wear COVID-19 masks whether they — or their parents — like it or not, at least until September 21.
Clay Travis, of Outkick the Coverage and also The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show, spoke during the public portion of Tuesday’s meeting. He said two of his children attend Williamson County schools.
“We teach our kids that facts matter. That is why they go to school. The facts are these. Masks don’t work. There isn’t a single scientific data that has ever proven that masks work. Also, let’s talk about risk analysis. I feel bad for all of these people walking around in masks and engaging in cosmetic theater thinking that they are making a difference against COVID. They aren’t,” Travis said.
“Here is the truth. Our kids, under 25-years-old, there is a one in a million chance that they are going to die of COVID. They are more likely to be struck by lightning. They are more likely to die of the seasonal flu. Have any of you ever mandated masks for the seasonal flu? Well, shame on you because every kid in Williamson County schools has been under more danger from the seasonal flu every year than they are for COVID. I would tell every parent here don’t let your kids wear masks.”
Members of the Metro Nashville Public School (MNPS) Board’s also decided to impose a COVID-19 mask mandate upon their students. MNPS board members voted last week to require masks by a vote of eight to one, according to the school system’s website. MNPS Director Adrienne Battle said she and other school system officials wanted this due to an “alarming rise in COVID-19 cases and spread of the Delta variant.” She also cited the U.S. Centers for Disease Control’s (CDC’s) recommendation on the matter.
Sexton said last week that parents alone must decide whether their children will wear masks in schools.
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Chris Butler is an investigative journalist at The Tennessee Star. Follow Chris on Facebook. Email tips to [email protected].
I’m not as smart as most of you who are commenting on masks so I decided to do some research to learn whether or not masks protect us from diseases.
The first place I looked is at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). There are a lot of really smart people who work for NIST and they set the standards for all kinds of industries – including the medical industry. This article will no doubt challenge the attention span of most people but, to summarize, it tells us that specific designs of cotton masks protect the wearer from COVID 19 (and its variants) almost as well as does the N-95 mask, which is the standard of the mask industry.
https://www.nist.gov/news-events/news/2020/06/face-coverings-made-layered-cotton-fabric-likely-slow-spread-covid-19
Next, I did some research at a place where a whole bunch of other very smart people work (you may have heard of them), the Mayo Clinic. They said that surgical masks made from certain configurations of cotton protected the wearer from all sorts of airborne germs and viruses. You can read what they have to say at this link: https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/coronavirus/in-depth/coronavirus-mask/art-20485449
Finally, I looked into how well paper masks work – you know, those kinds of masks that everyone hands out to protect us – and (although, like I said, I’m nowhere near as smart as all those people claiming masks don’t work) it seems those folks are only talking about paper masks. Here’s a link I found that pretty much confirms that paper masks are useless: https://www.webmd.com/lung/news/20201119/how-much-does-wearing-a-mask-protect-you
WARNING: These articles have some big, scary looking words but I’m sure all you smart people who tell us that masks don’t work and we shouldn’t wear them can understand perfectly what they mean.
Meanwhile, although I’ve been vaccinated, I’ll still be out there wearing my mask when I’m around big crowds because I don’t want to get some new variant, nor do I wish to infect others who may not be vaccinated..
Mr: Venizelos, thank you for doing all this research for us poor dumb people who find big words scary. Just like so many other liberals, you think you know what’s best for the peons. For every article you can come up with pleading your side of the issue, there and uncounted numbers of research articles that refute your point of view. The whole chinese virus issue has intentionally been blown out of proportion as yet another tool the force the populous into socialist submission. If you want to get vaccinated and wear a mask that’s you choice, and that’s what people on the Right are in support of, personal choice. if you are afraid of catching the chinese virus, then by all means you probably should get vaccinated, wear a mask, or maybe you should just hid at home. For a virus that has a greater than 98% survival rate, I’ll take my chances with my good health and immune system. For everyone else, if the choose, then they can wear a mask if they are afraid of becoming ill.
Does Tennessee law provide for impeachment of the governor? If so, isn’t about time to take action?
I totally agree, if you read his Executive Order #83, (#14) which allows for the kidnapping of those deemed from a phone call to be emotional and (#18) which calls for the construction of interment camps, as well as (#8) which calls for the Military to implement these atrocities. Every Tennessean should be very worried that anyone the citizens trust with the power to govern would call for Despotism.
What I look for in a physician is one that has a license to sell insurance, or used cars… a medical degree doesn’t count for much… The General Assembly should overrule any local health boards that disagree with them.. and county school boards should be appointed by the Legislature from now on.
Given a short time, people always reveal their true selves. Governor Lee is a prime example of this truth.
Mask wearing either shows that you are subservient to the socialists, or you are virtue signaling that you are smarter than those who know the truth. Medically they provide absolutely no protection. As for school age individuals being required to wear a mask, it is nothing more than preparing them for a future totalitarian world when the government makes all your decisions and you will do what you are told.
Oh , such political Kabuki theater! Although I like and support the proposed end result, IF, Speaker Sexton was SO concerned about “the children” wearing masks, why didn’t he do something during the original 2021 session?
No, this is just 2026 Governor wanna-be Sexton making headlines that can be used in the future! He will parrot the words of Ron DeSantis, Ronald Reagan, and maybe even John Locke, all the while keeping an eye fixed on the polls, adjusting his spiel as necessary.
And, once elected Sexton will disappoint just like Lee!
Mask mandates on children are criminal. Mask unless used properly are a disease spreader, they are just dirty!
“Finally…”?
More “half measures”. Rep. Sexton totally forgot to mention curtailing unconstitutional executive orders from this or any future governor. Stop using the kids as human shields like Covidstan is doing and strike the root.
I have not been pleased with the Governor at all. It is almost like Pfizer and the AMA are sponsoring the so called plandemic. Can’t we go back to being scared of the Muslims? Muslims don’t believe in printing up money for pandemics. Guess Moderns stock shares need a bump?
Governor Lee has been a disappointment. We need a De Santis.