In September, the Wilson County School Board approved a temporary mask mandate for students, teachers, and staff throughout the entire school system. The mandate expired on Monday which led the school board to vote on whether to extend it or not during their meeting Monday night.
The school board voted to extend the mask mandate until November 1st on Monday. Board members Kimberly McGee, Larry Tomlinson, Linda Armistead, Bill Robinson, Carrie Pfeiffer, and Jamie Farough all voted to carry the motion.
The next school board meeting is scheduled for November 1st where the board will most likely decide again if they wish to continue the mandate further into the rest of November and December.
The vote for the school mask mandate in Wilson County, which includes an opt-out option, comes just days after Governor Bill Lee announced he will be extending his Executive Order that allows parents and legal guardians to opt-out of their children wearing a mask at school. Lee’s new executive order extension takes effect on October 5th and will last until November 5th.
The decision by Governor Lee follows rulings by multiple judges that blocked the implementation of the order in Knox, Shelby, and Williamson counties.
“I’ve been incredibly disappointed by the rulings from federal judges who’ve chosen to legislate from the bench,” Lee told reporters. “Parents should be the ones who decide. Parents know what is best for their children and should have the last word on health and welfare for their children.”
In an effort to defend the order by Lee, Tennessee Attorney General Herbert Slatery announced that he will appeal and immediately seek a stay of two recent federal district court decisions, which prevented the opt-out in both Shelby and Knox counties.
Watch the Wilson County School Board recap video here:
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Kaitlin Housler is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Email tips to [email protected].
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These extensions just seem vindictive at this point. An attitude of “How DARE you question my Authority”…
So the Wilson County school board continues to pit the masked against the unmasked. How stupid. And these are supposed to be the leaders of education. Give me a break.
Dr. Ron Paul has an incredible homeschool program for children. If I had a child at this time I would definitely homeschool.