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Knox County Schools

Federal judge orders Knox County Schools to implement mask policy with no opt-out

Isabel Lohman
Knoxville News Sentinel

Knox County Schools must require all staff and students to wear masks in schools while a lawsuit by families of disabled children plays out, a federal judge ruled Friday. The ruling takes effect immediately. 

U.S. District Judge J. Ronnie Greer also blocked Gov. Bill Lee's executive order allowing Knox County Schools parents to opt out of the mask mandate. The judge's ruling only applies to the school district.

The governor's executive order was already set to expire Oct. 5. Jessica Salonus, a lawyer representing the four families who are suing the Knox County Board of Education and the governor, said that even if Lee extends his opt-out order, it still won't apply in Knox County.

Any students or staffer with autism or a tracheotomy is exempt from the mask mandate, the judge ruled. One of the medical witnesses testified last week that those two groups may not be able to wear a mask.

The school district has five days to tell the court of any other medical conditions that may qualify for exemptions. Then, the lawyers for the plaintiffs have 48 hours to respond to that.

Superintendent Bob Thomas wrote in an email Friday to families that masks will be required starting Monday for students, staff and visitors indoors on KCS property or while riding a school bus or shuttle.

"We recognize that this is a sensitive topic and that there are a wide variety of strongly held feelings about COVID-19 mitigation measures," Thomas said. "At the same time, I want to make very clear that we are required to implement this order."

The four families in the lawsuit allege the governor and school board are failing to make "reasonable accommodations" for their disabled children who are at higher risk of getting severely sick from COVID-19. They argue that without a mask requirement, their children cannot learn safely in-person. 

"The plaintiffs are grateful to the court for its thorough and reasoned decision, which protects the health and safety of students and teachers within Knox County Schools from this unprecedented, invisible and highly contagious virus," Salonus told Knox News. 

The suit filed Sept. 2 is based on protections from the Americans with Disabilities Act and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973.

"Although Knox County Board of Education encourages students to wear masks, the evidence shows that the absence of a mask mandate is fueling infections inside Knox County Schools with frightening celerity," the court writes. Since Knox County classes resumed this fall, COVID-19 cases among students skyrocketed far above any levels seen last year when a mask mandate was in place. 

The school board's lawyers argued, in part, that Knox County Schools are following strict mitigation protocols, including social distancing in schools, to protect students.

But Farragut Intermediate teacher Ashley Paquette testified against that assertion, telling Greer she sometimes supervises close to 300 students in a Farragut Intermediate hallway from 7 to 7:30 a.m., and those students are shoulder-to-shoulder with only about 20 to 25 masked on any given day.

Paquette and medical experts testified about the vital role masks play, especially for students under age 12 who can't get vaccinated.

Dr. Jason Yaun, a pediatrician and vice president of the Tennessee Chapter of American Academy of Pediatrics, told the judge masks are most effective when nearly everyone wears one. He said when masks are used in schools, classrooms aren't a significant source of COVID-19 spread. 

"I think a mask mandate is still very useful. Again, it sort of normalizes behaviors," he said.

The judge agreed: "This conclusion, and the evidence supporting it, is an attestation to the extreme contagiousness of the delta variant and the reality that, among the unvaccinated, it is untamable without community-wide masking inside schools," he wrote.

The delta variant is spreading quickly through unvaccinated communities, like children 11 and under. In the week that ended Wednesday, East Tennessee Children's Hospital reported that 19 children had been hospitalized with COVID-19. On Thursday, 13 children were receiving treatment for COVID-19 across the 11-county Knoxville Hospital District. 

The district is struggling to find substitutes for teachers and staff who are sick or quarantining. On Friday, there were 292 staff absences that were not able to be filled by substitutes, district spokeswoman Carly Harrington said.

The Board of Education voted Sept. 1 against a mask requirement for students and staff. In August, the board voted against empowering the superintendent to create a mask requirement.

Knox County Education Association president Paula Hancock said the ruling allows teachers and staff to look out for kids' safety. 

"So how that impacts us, how this ruling would impact us is that it gives us an opportunity to do exactly what we are obligated to do," Hancock said. "And we're obligated to make sure that every student has access, you know, to learning. And every student has access to a healthy and safe environment in which to learn."

How Lee's executive order is used other places

In a similar case in Shelby County, a different judge granted a preliminary injunction on Lee's mask opt-out order.

The case differs because the Shelby County Health Department issued a mask requirement for all schools and day care centers before the governor's executive order. That order currently expires at the end of September but can be renewed.

On Friday, a federal judge temporarily blocked Lee's order from being enforced in Williamson County Schools and Franklin Special School District. The judge's decision is temporary, lasting until 11:59 p.m. on Oct 5, the same time as Lee's order is set to expire. 

Williamson County Schools first put in place a mask requirement for elementary students, later extending that to middle and high schools.

On a separate track, the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights is investigating whether Lee's order discriminates against students who are at a heightened risk for severe illness from COVID-19.

Read the judge's ruling here: 

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