Tennessee Mask Mandate Opt-Out Might Violate Federal Law, Department of Education Says

Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee

 

The Tennessee mask mandate opt-out for school children might violate federal laws, the Department of Education says. Governor Bill Lee (R) signed an executive order that allowed parents the right to opt their children out of mask mandates in schools.

Executive Order 84, which was signed by Gov. Lee Monday, states, “a student’s parent or guardian shall have the right to opt out of any order or requirement for a student in kindergarten through twelfth-grade to wear a face covering at school, on a school bus, or at school functions.”

The United States Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona wrote a letter to Gov. Lee and Tennessee Education Commissioner Penny Schwinn, saying that the executive order “may infringe upon a school district’s authority to adopt policies to protect students and educators as they develop their safe return to in-person instruction plans required by Federal law.”

Cardona wrote that the executive order was an “action against science-based strategies” that would prevent the spread of COVID.

“This State level action against science-based strategies for preventing the spread of COVID-19 appears to restrict the development of local health and safety policies and is at odds with the school district planning process embodied in the U.S. Department of Education’s (Department’s) interim final requirements,” Cardona said.

The letter stated, “The Department stands with the dedicated educators who are working to safely reopen schools and maintain safe in-person instruction.”

As reported by The Tennessee Star, one school district had already stated that they would be defying the governor’s orders.

“Metro Nashville Public Schools Director Dr. Adrienne Battle also issued a statement about the executive order, saying, ‘Metro Schools will continue to require face masks’ despite the order from Lee.”

Dr. Marcella Nunez-Smith, chair of the White House COVID Equity Task Force, allegedly called the situation “distressing,” saying, “This is deeply distressing. We know what works to keep our kids safe, we know that our kids should be in school. That’s where they’re going to do best.”

Tennessee Representative John Clemmons (D-Nashville) tweeted out that the executive order “has no foundation in the law or anything resembling common sense.” Clemmons also said that Lee was “depriving disabled and immuno-compromised children of equal educational opportunities in free public schools.”

Lee responded to the letter from the Biden administration, saying “Parents know better than the government what’s best for their children.”

– – –

Hayley Tschetter is a reporter with The Minnesota Sun | Star News Network. Follow Hayley on Twitter or like her Facebook page. Send news tips to [email protected].
Photo “Bill Lee” by Bill Lee.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Related posts

10 Thoughts to “Tennessee Mask Mandate Opt-Out Might Violate Federal Law, Department of Education Says”

  1. If no one has noticed, the federal government is nothing more than a front for a central bank, a privately owned central bank, deceptively called “The Federal Reserve.” Tennessee needs to open a Mint, Coin Constitutional Money, team up with our Musicians and request that when folks come to Tennessee, to hear our music, a commodity that no one else has, that they pay admission with Constitution Silver Dollars. We stack that Silver in a TN State Silver Music Bank similar to the Bank of North Dakota. “I killed the bank.” – Andrew Jackson.

  2. Horatio Bunce

    CDC Buries Study Finding That Student Masking Has ‘No Statistically Significant Benefit’

    https://www.zerohedgecom/covid-19/cdc-buries-study-showing-student-masking-has-no-statistically-significant-benefit

  3. Horatio Bunce

    “We know what works to keep our kids safe,”

    Fine. Then do that for “your” kids. Triple mask and inject your own lab rats and assume 100% of the liability for those “safe and effective” vaccines that have killed over 12000 and injured over half a million. Leave my children alone. They are not government property. They are not “yours”. I will defend them.

  4. Mike

    Keep the Federal government out of Tennessee education. The federal government is highly incompetent.

  5. 83ragtop50

    Who cares what anyone at the federal levels says about OUR schools?! They are the ones who are responsible for the indoctrination forced upon our children. I believe in states’ rights. It is time for spineless to tell them to take a hike. I have to wonder how a real governor like DeSantis or Abbott would respond.

  6. Steve

    Screw the federal government. they couldn’t successfully manage a gas station. It’s time for states to draw the line and band together to put a stop to the continual over reach of Biden’s clown show.

  7. All doctors know
    …that widespread community mask wearing does nothing to reduce or prohibit the spread of a respiratory virus.
    …that masks, after being worn, are treated as a hazardous material.
    …that masks limit the free intake of oxygen.
    …that masks limit the proper exhalation of CO2.
    …that those not properly trained in wearing a mask do not wear masks properly or effectively
    …that the constant touching of one’s face due to mask wearing introduces more risk than not wearing a mask at all.
    …that man has been dealing with corona viruses for all of history…and has survived just fine.
    …that viruses mutate.
    …that a healthy body is the best defense against serious complications from a viral infection.
    …that individuals with multiple co-morbidities are most susceptible to serious complications or even death from any exposure to a respiratory infection.
    …that it normally takes 7-10 years or more to receive approval for any new drug treatment or medical device.
    …that no vaccine for a corona virus has ever successfully made it through clinical trials.
    …that this is also true for the current jab, as the clinical trial is ongoing – now including billions of people around the world.
    …that an effective vaccine doesn’t require booster shots within a few months.
    …that antibodies derived from the illness provide better immunity than antibodies derived, or concocted, via a vaccine.
    …vaccinating someone who already has antibodies for a given virus is dangerous.
    Conclusion
    All doctors know these things. Yet very few doctors are saying any of these.

  8. David Blackwell RN, BSN, CCM

    There is zero science that mask stop the spread of aerosolized virus. There is ample science that suggest moist mask touched with dirty hands all day harbor bacteria. Surgical mask are to be donned unsung sterile technique and for one procedure alone. There is also plenty of evidence that suggest mask were deployed as a coercive measure to increased vaccine rates. The Ontario Nurses Association fought the policy and won, twice.

  9. JB Taylor

    The Department of Education needs to be closed down. All education should be handled at the state level.

Comments