Two Williamson County School (WCS) System teachers, both of whom said they have previously unblemished records, said Tuesday that school administrators have suspended them without pay, indefinitely, because they refuse to wear COVID-19 masks.
And both of those teachers, Aundrea Laramee-Gomez and Tonya Homme, spoke on the record about their respective suspensions — even if they said it means they both might lose their jobs.
WCS officials did not return The Tennessee Star’s request for comment Tuesday.
Homme, who taught Spanish at Brentwood Middle School, said she wore her mask on school grounds. But she said wearing a mask wasn’t necessary in a classroom, at least not as she instructed students from a distance of at least six feet or more.
“I teach Spanish and these kids have never heard these words before,” Homme said.
“I thought it was important they see my mouth and how I was forming my words.”
Gomez, meanwhile, said she taught English as a second language. To do so, her students needed to see her face uncovered. She said she taught at Oakview Elementary School in Franklin and at Longview Elementary in Spring Hill.
Gomez said she knew she “was walking a fine line.”
“I knew. But I am just not that person that rolls over and complies with whatever someone tells me. I think most people think to themselves, but they don’t always act on it. It is not in my spirit to allow someone to take away my rights. At the end of the day, if I can’t make a choice about my own health then I don’t really have any rights. That is my ultimate right that I have. It’s how I breathe. The first principal said ‘But you don’t have to work here. You can choose to not work here.’ And I looked at her and said ‘So, I have to give up my rights to make my own health decisions to be a teacher in Williamson County Schools?’ How is that OK?” Gomez asked.
“That is not OK. A mask is a medical device. It is not clothing. Research is showing they are completely not effective. I don’t want it to be so much about the mask. I feel like this is a thing for them to have power over, and I am not going to give into that. I feel like if I don’t stand up and do something about it now then I will regret it down the road when they are telling me I have to take a vaccine to be a teacher.”
Homme said WCS administrators need to decide, now, how to handle the suspensions.
“I just would like them to make a decision about whether we are terminated or reinstated. If they are going to let me go then let me go. I just don’t want to be suspended without pay, indefinitely,” Homme said.
“This has been going on for four weeks now. And they [WCS administrators] haven’t said anything to me.”
Homme told The Star that she misses her students.
“I don’t know who is teaching them. I don’t know what they are learning. I don’t know what they have been told about where I went,” Homme said.
“And my sixth-graders were supposed to have a test the day after [I was suspended]. I feel a responsibility to those kids.”
– – –
Chris Butler is an investigative journalist at The Tennessee Star. Follow Chris on Facebook. Email tips to [email protected].
if i put a mask on it will be to protect my idenity because i will either rob somebody or prepare to kill and dont want anybody to recognize me
please research covid 19 you would learn if our goverment let you that covid 19 is part of the common cold i researched this when it was in china before our goverment blocked it out and changed the covids wearing a mask like they ask you to do will not protect you or anybody else please do some research on the virus you could learn something.
This is what you get when you are fed garbage from the highest office of the land.
She is all about her rights and wanting to teach Spanish to school kids, but she’s not at all worried about protecting those kids health from a devastating virus. What she would be doing by wearing a mask is to fulfill her civic duty and show good citizenship. But I guess her rights are important than the health and safety of her fellow citizens. Such a hypocrite.
EVERY teacher should stand up and refuse to wear a mask. They cannot fire all of you. Masks do not work. Kids need to see their teachers face and their smile. Kids are being taught to fear their friend and other humans. MASKS ARE POVEN NOT TO STOP A VIRUS. The CDC just came out with a report that said the vast majority of people that have come down with COVID wore masks all of the time. The pores in ALL masks are larger than a virus. WAKE UP. Start being Americans. If you employer mandates masks ALL employees need to refuse. All teachers need to refuse. Masks cause more health problems than they prevent. We are starting to look more and more like China all the time.
Wow, seriously, I find it SO HEARTENING to read these awesome comments from intelligent, passionate, freedom-loving Tennesseans who WILL NOT BOW DOWN and comply with this ILLEGAL, UNCONSTITUTIONAL and GROTESQUE violation of our RIGHTS. My family is moving to Tennessee next month, and seeing these comments from our new community members honestly gives me such hope.
Williamson County:
Too may move ins from everywhere!
Too much perceived wealth and no common sense.
Most of them have their nose so far up in the air, I don’t know if a mask will work for their arrogant citizens.
I specifically put my child in another school because the former teacher always wore a mask. It’s detrimental to a young child’s development not being able to see someone’s face to communicate. That and the environment promoted an environment of fear due to altered practices due to Coronavirus. Schools are not only doing a disservice but also harming child development because of all this fearmongering.
I HATE the mask. I miss my country!!
What is wrong with Williamson County?!?!
I used to think that it was a great place to live, with brave, conservative leadership. WOW was I wrong.
Looking back I wish I moved to Murray County instead.
These are ABSOLUTELY the kind of teachers we want in our school system and our spineless leadership let’s them go. What a shame. SHAME ON YOU WILLIAMSON COUNTY School Board!
Bye. It’s not late they still have property for sale or rent wherever Murray county is located.
This is SYSTEMIC BULLYING, pure and simple.
School officials are not doctors and must not practice medicine without a license. Only your doctor can tell you, according to your medical background and needs, whether wearing a mask is recommended for you or not. My Physician said “NO, absolutely DO NOT wear a mask under any circumstances.” Decisions made between you and your doctor are private. And It is against HIPPA law for a doctor to disclose someone’s private medical information.
School officials are wrong on so many levels here – they’re WAY out of line. If they ever had common sense, they’ve forgotten how to use it and think for themselves.
This is serious. Teachers’ careers are on the line. Can Williamson County school officials prove in a court of law that masks are effective in preventing C-19? Or are they blindly trusting the orders from upstream? No, they cannot prove it. Because there have been NO CLINICAL STUDIES to prove masks work.
In fact, there have been numerous studies that prove masks are actually VERY HARMFUL to your health when worn for hours and days on end. Oxygen levels drop 10 or more points within 2 minutes, immune system drops 17%-20%, vital organs go on high alert for lack of oxygen, bacteria, fungus, (and yes, virus particles) become trapped in masks causing lung infections, pneumonia, and other lung conditions. Co2 cannot be fully exhaled and eliminated from the body. Skin irritations erupt around the nose and mouth. Wearing masks in warm, humid weather, especially for people with health conditions, can cause heat exhaustion and possibly heat stroke. (Happened to me) Not to mention the social (communication, separation) emotional and psychological damage (human contact, touch, degrading individual identity) caused by wearing masks for days and months on end. With compromised immune systems, those who have worn masks on a regular basis will be the first to catch whatever flu, cold, or C-19 that comes along this fall and winter.
Tennessee government, you’d better be damn sure about your science on mask wearing. You can no longer rely on the marching orders your getting upstream. They’ve been proven wrong time and time again.
Constitutional rights will trump any claims of “public health” or “greater good”. Class action lawsuits are very effective when widespread damage is done to so many, especially with a lack of due diligence.
Well, well. What do we have here? CDC admits mask wearing can be harmful to your health. Is this a CYA moment for the so-called “experts”?
https://tennesseestar.com/2020/10/16/cdc-report-indicates-masks-may-increase-chance-of-infection-with-covid-or-other-respiratory-illnesses/
Of course, masks are nothing but forced political humiliation. I hope these leftist politicians burn in hell.
I want to commend both of these teachers for standing up and doing what is right! These teachers are the kind of teachers I would want to teach my children. They have every right not to come under the dictatorship of people who have No legal right to enforce this control. These teachers are under the protection of the Constitution of the State of Tenn. The county does Not have the right by law to dictate to a person to wear a mask. It’s illegal and unjust! The Governor does not have the legal right to give mayors the authority to make a mandate and force their citizens to wear a mask which is control and manipulation. Enough is enough! The people in this Nation and State are waking up to the truth!
I hate the mask, and I am certain it violates rights. But she said something that is a big misconception, and that was to make it sound as if wearing a mask protects the wearer. Wearing a mask supposedly protects OTHERS, not yourself.
A very common place to catch a virus is in your eye membranes. So the mask wearer protects others, not themselves.
So in actuality she’s not making a decision based on protecting her own health. And I would hate to be a student trying to learn a different language and not being able to see the teachers mouth. And if she is standing that far away then a mask is not required anyway.
These are probably teachers that you would want teaching your children too. But, at the end of the day all it takes is one unhinged aseptic parent who think that masks work for this to not be okay. Please remember to sign the Great Barrington Declaration – so far over 9,000 medical and public health scientists have signed (anyone can sign). They recommend an approach they call focused protection. This means in this case we would have policies that protected children with chronic health conditions or who are medically fragile, like many who attend special education.
https://gbdeclaration.org
Masks don’t work. Many studies prior to the Coronahoax. Enough with the games.
https://www.rcreader.com/commentary/masks-dont-work-covid-a-review-of-science-relevant-to-covide-19-social-policy