The Wilson County School Board voted down a motion to require face masks for older students and staff in high traffic areas to start the 2020-2021 academic year on Aug. 3.
The special-called meeting was scheduled to update and clarify the district's 2020-2021 re-entry plan.
Wilson County Schools announced its school structure plans for the coming academic year earlier this month. The district's position on face masks is that they are being “strongly encouraged and expected to be worn by our teachers, students and staff,” district spokesman Bart Barker said.
Board member Chad Karl made a motion to strengthen language of the face mask policy that strongly encourages face coverings and make them required in high traffic areas where social distancing can't be done.
The school district's attorney Mike Jennings told board members he could not find in his research where a school system has authority to issue a mask requirement.
Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee has given 89 county mayors the authority to require masks with exceptions that include ages 12 and under.
Wilson County Mayor Randall Hutto has not declared a mask mandate yet. But Jennings said the authority given to the county mayors to mandate masks goes through Aug. 3.
Board chairman Larry Tomlinson stated the board is a "strong proponent of wearing masks in school," but didn't think the board had the authority to require it.
Jennings warned the board about the district's footing to defend a potential lawsuit and parents who may refuse to have their child wear a mask and maintains the district has the responsibility to still educate. Jennings said he wasn't against masks, but did not feel the board had the legal authority to require them.
Karl said he was inundated with feedback on face masks leading up to the meeting. Karl said a majority of students and nearly all teachers he communicated with supported face masks while parents were split.
"Right now the best way to support our teachers is to wear a mask," Karl said. "What is right is to protect our students and protect our teachers."
The vote was 4-2 against the motion for the partial mask requirement at school with one abstention.
The board voted to strongly encourage masks for anyone going into a school building.
A student-based action group named Mt. Juliet Teens for Change organized an online petition drive that advocates a mandate for students and staff in grades 7-12 to wear masks to start the academic year. A student addressed the board advocating for masks.
Wilson County Schools has already announced other protocols in light of COVID-19, such as temperature checks, isolation of symptomatic individuals and social distancing measures during crowded times of the school day.
A requirement to wear face coverings on a school bus is part of the district's re-entry plan.
District leaders also went over a number of other contingency scenarios on Thursday when school starts, such as a hybrid model or temporarily shifting a school to remote learning if they are warranted because of the coronavirus. The meeting lasted more than five hours.
Wright described the re-entry plan as fluid and needs to continue to be flexible in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
"We are in a day-to-day situation," Wright said to the board and stressed changes could still occur.
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Wilson County's back-to-school plan offers a virtual learning option for the fall semester for all students if they are uncomfortable returning to traditional school.
The district extended the deadline to register for the virtual school option for the first semester to noon Sunday.
Reach Andy Humbles at ahumbles@tennessean.com or 615-726-5939 and on Twitter @ AndyHumbles.
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Wilson County School Board votes down motion to require face masks for students, staff - Tennessean
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