Members of the Williamson County School (WCS) Board are scheduled to meet Tuesday evening to discuss COVID-19 safety protocols.
An agenda sheet for Tuesday’s scheduled meeting does not say whether board members will discuss whether to mandate COVID-19 masks for students.
Board members are scheduled to hold this specially-called meeting at 6 p.m., Tuesday, Aug. 10, at the Williamson County Administrative Complex Auditorium at 1320 West Main Suite 202 in Franklin.
Members of the public who cannot attend in person may watch the meeting live on the WCS website.
Twenty-five miles north, the Metro Nashville Public School (MNPS) Board’s decision to impose a mask mandate upon students has prompted Tennessee Speaker of the House Cameron Sexton (R-Crossville) to call for a special legislative session.
“We are starting discussions with House members,” Sexton told The Tennessee Star by text last Friday.
Sexton said Monday it’s time for students to put their virtual learning behind and walk back into their classrooms — without a COVID-19 mask mandate. Sexton said parents alone should decide whether their children will wear masks in schools. He also said he would ask Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee for a special session if school systems mandate masks for students.
This, after new data revealed falling test scores.
Last year, a Williamson County public school teacher on indefinite suspension for refusing to wear a COVID-19 mask on school grounds told school system officials that science and public opinion are not on their side.
That teacher, Aundrea Laramee-Gomez, said this in an open letter to all 12 Williamson County School Board members and Superintendent Jason Golden.
Gomez, in her letter, said Tennessee’s constitution does not side with the school system’s mask mandates, although she did not cite which part of the state constitution said that.
“The science is NOT on WCS’s side. Masks do not control viruses. The fact that WCS makes policies that completely go against this scientific fact causes me to question the motives. What is the benefit? Power? Money?” Gomez asked.
“History will NOT be on WCS’s side. The decisions of WCS regarding mask mandates and quarantining hundreds of HEALTHY children will not age well. Public opinion is NOT on WCS’s side. But you clearly don’t care as you continue to make decisions in a bubble regardless of parent and community input.”
Gomez taught English as a second language.
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Chris Butler is an investigative journalist at The Tennessee Star. Follow Chris on Facebook. Email tips to [email protected].
Facts:
1. Vaccinated individuals DO contract CV, now known at a pace that meets or exceeds unvaccinated individuals.
2. Vaccinated individuals DO spread CV at a pace now known to meet or exceed unvaccinated individuals.
3. Cloth face coverings have been shown to be ineffective at mitigating the spread of viruses. Dr. Michael Osterholm, CDC, most recently echoed these sentiments on CNN the first week of July. The CDC and NIH have published at least 3 studies demonstrating this.
4. At this junction, educators interested in vaccination, have been vaccinated.
5. At this junction, community members interested in vaccination have been vaccinated.
6. CV spread in children is miniscule.
7. CV spread from children to adults is miniscule.
8. There has not been ONE documented case of CV spread from a student to a teacher, in the U.S.
9. Our community is built of educated, hard working adults who understand the risk of living in our environment and have made their decision.
10. Where risk exists, there must be a choice as to whether we wear a mask, vaccinate or socially distance. The social, emotional and physical toll is far too great to simply say, “Take one for the team”.
so will the board be providing actual evidence that masks work?
….will they?
My child will not wear a mask, they are nasty, end of story!