School starts for some 58,000 Knox County children on Monday, Aug. 9, and Superintendent Bob Thomas has decided to make mask-wearing optional. The Covid Delta variant is surging and kids under age 12 are not yet eligible for vaccination.
On Wednesday, the school board talked around a possible mask mandate in terms of who has the authority to decide and what happened last April. Some 17 speakers signed up – most to say they liked the personal choice plan.
Given new evidence on the B.1.617.2 (Delta) variant, CDC has updated the guidance for fully vaccinated people. CDC recommends universal indoor masking for all teachers, staff, students, and visitors to K-12 schools, regardless of vaccination status. Children should return to full-time in-person learning in the fall with layered prevention strategies in place. – Aug. 5, 2021, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Board member Mike McMillan blew off the CDC saying “they change their minds … bounce around like a rubber ball … and won’t give us all the facts.”
“You can avoid reality, but you cannot avoid the consequences of avoiding reality.” – Ayn Rand
Bob Thomas gets real with the school board.
Martha Buchanan M.D., Knox County health officer, recommended a mask mandate on Wednesday, according to comments by Superintendent Thomas at the board workshop. Thomas expressed frustration and even anger as the meeting wore on. “The governor does not favor mandating masks. Mayor Jacobs does not favor mandating masks. … The CDC and Tennessee Department of Health are making recommendations, not mandating masks.” Thomas said. “Dr. Buchanan said she’s mandating masks for schools today.”
Thomas said a majority of the school board has told him they do not support mandating face coverings. Then he challenged the board:
“If you put it on your agenda and vote to do it, we will mandate face coverings. I’ll be glad to do that.”
On Thursday, Martha Buchanan resigned.
A rational mind does not work under compulsion; it does not subordinate its grasp of reality to anyone’s orders, directives or controls; it does not sacrifice its knowledge, its view of the truth, to anyone’s opinions, threats, wishes, plans or welfare. – Ayn Rand
There are not five votes on the BOE to require masks, at least under current conditions. So, we asked Children’s Hospital what parents should do to keep their kids safe when school reopens.
“With masks being optional as kids head back to school here in Knox County, families will have to weigh the risk factors for children and themselves. Those with children who have pre-existing medical conditions that put them at higher risk for severe illness with Covid-19 or any virus, I recommend they wear masks indoors, when social distancing isn’t possible. Hospitalizations for children with Covid-19 have increased across the country and in our community.
“We are strongly encouraging vaccination against Covid-19 for everyone who is currently eligible to get the vaccine. Vaccination is the single best way to keep your family safe and also to break the cycle of new variants showing up.”
– Dr. Joe Childs, chief medical officer, East Tennessee Children’s Hospital
Virginia Babb is a swing vote on masks. She said Wednesday that nobody in the audience or sending emails is talking about what the board voted to do last April. They want to know what’s happening next week. “I don’t see this personally as a time for mandates. … But I wish people would get their damn vaccine.”
The school board is split 2-3-4, based on comments Wednesday and previous votes. Count Daniel Watson and Jennifer Owen as solidly pro-mask. Count Evetty Satterfield, Babb and Kristi Kristy as swing votes. Count McMillan, Patti Bounds, Susan Horn and Betsy Henderson as solid no votes.
“He is free to evade reality, he is free to unfocus his mind and stumble blindly down any road he pleases, but not free to avoid the abyss he refuses to see.” ― Ayn Rand
Sandra Clark is editor/CEO of Knox TN Today.