A group of parents in Williamson County sued the county school system last week over its mask mandate that impacts students, staff, and faculty. The lawsuit, which was filed by four parents, asks for the federal court to set aside the mask mandate and declares the policy is unconstitutional.
In the lawsuit, the plaintiffs cite studies which show more people under the age of 18 died from the flu during the 2018-2019 season than have died of COVID-19 during the pandemic. The plaintiffs also cite foreign studies on the overall effectiveness of wearing masks, stating, “all parties mandating the use of facemasks are not only willfully ignoring established science but are engaging in what amounts to a whole school clinical experimental trial.”
This comes after the Williamson County Board of Education on September 20th voted to extend the temporary mask requirement for students, staff and visitors at all grade levels, inside all buildings and on buses, through January 19, 2022.
Before the four parents in Williamson County filed a lawsuit, students were still given the opportunity to opt-out of any mask requirement thanks to Governor Bill Lee’s Executive Order 84, signed on August 16th.
However, days after the parents filed the lawsuit, a federal judge on Friday temporarily blocked Tennessee Governor Bill Lee’s executive order allowing parents to opt their kids out of wearing face coverings at school. Judge Waverly D. Crenshaw ruled Williamson County Schools and the Franklin Special School District can enforce mask mandates in their school systems despite Lee’s executive order.
Previously, two other judges have also halted Lee’s executive order in Knox County and Shelby County.
In a complete contrast from the lawsuit filed by the four parents, earlier this month two Williamson County families sued Governor Bill Lee and the Williamson County School Board in federal court in opposition to the governor’s executive order regarding school mask mandates.
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Kaitlin Housler is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Email tips to [email protected]
Photo “Westwood Spirit Week” by Williamson County Schools.
