Nashville teachers and students will be required to wear masks when the school district reopens for classes on Tuesday. It came as no surprise that the school board adopted the policy after a recommendation from Metro Schools Superintendent Adrienne Battle.
It’s unknown how many teachers, staff and students have been fully vaccinated, but there is clear concern about the highly contagious delta variant.
In Tennessee, although vaccination rates have increased in recent weeks, COVID-19 hospitalizations are up and expected to continue rising. The majority of new coronavirus cases and hospitalizations are among the unvaccinated.
“The Centers for Disease Control and American Academy of Pediatrics, along with other public health officials, have released guidance indicating universal masking is a priority in K-12 schools,” said Battle.
The CDC has also recommended that people wear masks indoors in public if they’re traveling in an area of high transmission, regardless of their vaccination status.
Only about 40% of Tennesseans are fully vaccinated. The majority of the state is considered high-spread, which has led to calls for school officials to maintain last year’s masking protocols. But Tennessee State House Speaker Cameron Sexton previously threatened legislative action against districts who chose to do so.
At Tuesday’s board meeting, member Freda Player-Peters said issuing a mask mandate it’s about keeping schools open after two years of shutdowns.
“I do not want to go back to what we had to suffer this past year,” said Player-Peters. “The only time I want to hear about school closings is if there’s an ice or a snowstorm.”
There was some pushback, however, from board member Fran Bush. She told her colleagues that parents should have the option to send their kids to school without a mask.
Previously, the district planned to make masks optional for the 2021-2022 school year.
“If you choose to put your child in a mask, absolutely. If a teacher wants to go in a mask, absolutely,” said Bush, who represents Antioch. “But those students who have health conditions or health risks — let their parents do that without doing an emergency exemption.”
Bush said the district shouldn’t have a mask mandate without city or state masking requirements. So far Nashville has put in place mask requirements for Metro government buildings, as Mayor John Cooper announced Wednesday.
With the rapid increase of the Delta variant, and in accordance with CDC and @NashvilleHealth recommendations, face coverings will be required inside Metro Government buildings beginning Thursday, August 5. pic.twitter.com/Ooz7V8CzTQ
— John Cooper (@JohnCooper4Nash) August 4, 2021
The masking order for Nashville public schools applies to buildings and buses.
The board said it will reassess the mandate after Metro lifts its mask rule in government buildings. School leaders also said they’ll provide masks to students who need them. The mandate goes into effect August 6.
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