The 901: Will Shelby County schools use newfound power to safeguard students?

Good Tuesday morning from Memphis! This morning, we're looking at what happened during the first day of confirmation hearings for Rhodes College alum and Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett. We'll also take a closer look at why police reform advocates left yesterday's Shelby County Commission meeting disappointed. But first...

Shelby County found out yesterday that schools, like houses of worship, are officially exempt from the local pandemic guidelines issued by the county's health department.

In other words, schools can — but don't have to — require masks and social distancing.

That news came via the Shelby County Health Department's latest (and 14th) public health directive, which does two things, our Daniel Connolly and Katherine Burgess report. As already mentioned, the directive acknowledges schools' authority to set their own COVID-19 safety protocols. Second, the directive requires landlords to notify quarantining and coronavirus-positive tenants prior to eviction that the county may be able to supply them with temporary housing if they call (or...fax?) the department.

Shelby County Schools, the state's largest school district, will almost certainly follow the health department's guidance. SCS has taken a more cautious approach to reopening, including delaying the start of the school year and then starting with all-virtual classes.

What's less certain is what the other local school districts and private schools will do. 

Regardless, county and state attorneys determined the decision was out of the department's hands, according to Dr. Bruce Randolph, the county health officer:

"There have been a lot of questions about what authority the heath department has as it relates to schools, particularly in the area of mandating wearing a mask and the separation of six feet or more during social distancing," he said.

"So we asked the county attorney to review the governor's executive orders. She communicated also with the state attorney. And their opinion was that the schools were sort of like the churches and places of worship. And that is that they retain the authority to decide how they will educate and protect their children, their students, teachers and staff." 

After scouring Gov. Bill Lee's executive orders, it's unclear to me which order exempts schools from following the Health Department's public health directives. 

But here's the upshot: the leaders of local schools now have greater power — as well as greater responsibility — for the health and safety of their students. If they disregard the recommendations of the Health Department and the vast majority of medical experts and decide to roll back masking and social distancing prematurely, parents will know exactly who to blame if, and perhaps when, their students start falling prey to COVID-19.

Barrett gets first Senate hearing

Yesterday marked the first in what promised to be a long, grueling week for Supreme Court nominee and Rhodes College graduate Amy Coney Barrett and the country.

Here's a quick summary from NBC News about what went down yesterday...

Barrett's nomination has deeply divided the community of Memphis' Rhodes College, as previously noted. An open letter in opposition to Barrett's confirmation eventually garnered 1,879 signatures. Meanwhile, more than 250 alumni have signed a statement and created a website supporting Barrett's confirmation.

What happened at County Commission

The Shelby County Commission yesterday shot down a pricey proposal to buy new voting equipment, as well as one of three proposals to "reform" the sheriff's office.

Let's look at those one at a time.

1. Election Commission contract

First up, the commission narrowly voted to block a $5.8 million contract for the Shelby County Election Commission to buy new voting machines from Nebraska-based Elections System and Software (ES&S) after the cost of the contract ballooned by several million dollars. Check out our Katherine Burgess' article for more on commissioners' rationale — including concern over potential conflicts of interest.

But for the average citizen, the big takeaway is how this affects election results:

The voting machines themselves wouldn't have been used for the Nov. 3 election, but the Shelby County Election Commission had planned to use some of the ballot scanners in order to speed up the processing of results. 

Without the scanners, results in November could be delayed for up to four days, said Election Commissioner Brent Taylor. 

The scanners were needed to process the increase in absentee ballots, election officials have said. 

The contract raises serious, important questions — but so does the idea that the Nov. 3 election results could be delayed by four days. If that happens, it'll be interesting to see who comes out on top in the blame game that's sure to follow. The Election Commission could blame the County Commission for denying the contract — but the County Commission could also blame the Election Commission for bringing this contract less than a month before the election, with early voting already underway.

Whomever wins, if the election results are delayed, it'll be the voters who ultimately lose.

2. Sheriff's office reform

In yesterday's meeting, the County Commission also narrowly rejected an ordinance that would have forbid the sheriff's office from hiring people for public safety positions who were fired for excessive use of force in a previous job, Katherine also reports.

The Shelby County Sheriff's Office already doesn't hire deputies with histories of being fired for using excessive force, but the ordinance's sponsor, Commissioner Tami Sawyer, said she wants to see that policy cemented in a county ordinance. The commission ultimately sided with the sheriff, rejecting the ordinance in a 5-5 vote.

Sawyer withdrew another ordinance prohibiting "excessive use" of chemical agents.

That leaves one final police reform ordinance still in the commission's pipeline. An ordinance to require commission approval for the sheriff to purchase any military-grade equipment was delayed two weeks, per Katherine. Of the three police reform proposals, this piece of legislation seems to have the most support and is the most significant. For more on that, check out this column I wrote on the reform proposals back in September.

What else is happening in the 901

• For subscribers: Our Sam Hardiman looks at the chances Rep. John DeBerry will be able to hang onto his seat in the legislature now that he's no longer listed as a Democrat. Also for subscribers: COVID-19 isn't stopping several big developments in DeSoto County, Mississippi, our Corinne Kennedy reports. (Don't subscribe but want to? Here's how.)
• Yesterday, Collierville dedicated the U.S. 72 bridge to George T. Walker, who was an alderman and continues to be the town's only victim of an unsolved homicide, our Dima Amro reports.
• If you missed it last week, our Sarah Macaraeg had a good (if unsurprising) story about the partisan breakdown of local campaign donations.
• Our Evan Barnes writes about what it will be like for Memphis Tigers football coach Ryan Silverfield to play against his old employer, the University of Central Florida, this Saturday. Evan also tells local college sports fans when the Memphis Tigers vs. Temple game kicks off on Oct. 24 and other helpful information.

The Fadeout: Bartholomew Jones

Fading us out this morning, here's the latest music video and song, "God's Property," from Memphis rapper Bartholomew Jones...

Like The Fadeout? Check out The 901's Spotify playlist. Want to submit a recommendation of your own? Reach me by email, address below.

Columnist Ryan Poe writes The 901, a running commentary on all things Memphis. Reach him at poe@commercialappeal.com and on Twitter @ryanpoe.

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