Pediatricians’ group joins suit to support Knox County Schools mask mandate
National leaders in pediatric care have joined the four families arguing Knox County Schools should impose a mask mandate to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
On Thursday, the American Academy of Pediatrics and its Tennessee chapter filed an amicus brief supporting the plaintiffs in a federal mask lawsuit, arguing “universal school masking policies substantially reduce the risk of death and serious illness among Tennessee’s school-age children and their families.”
In September, U.S. District Judge J. Ronnie Greer ruled the school system must require masks to protect students. Then, last month, the 6th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals denied the school board’s request to pause a judge’s temporary mask requirement as the appeals process plays out.
According to a report from the American Academy of Pediatrics cited in the brief, COVID-19 cases have “skyrocketed” among children since Aug. 13.
“This surge appears to be due to two principal factors: the resumption of in-person schooling (and particularly schooling in places without masks), and the emergence of the delta and omicron variants, which are more contagious than previous variants,” the brief said.
Knox County Schools argues that its virtual schools are a reasonable accommodation for students at a higher risk of getting severely sick from COVID-19.
But the American Academy of Pediatrics disagrees, saying “extended remote learning can be deeply harmful to children, posing a significant risk of negatively affecting their development and mental health.”
The brief also says the injunction requiring universal mask-wearing is in the public interest given some hospital intensive care units are near capacity. The number of COVID-19 patients at the University of Tennessee Medical Center steadily rose last week. On Thursday, 77 people were hospitalized.
The academy’s members include more than 67,000 children’s health care professionals.
The brief is the latest update in an ongoing lawsuit in which families of students with disabilities assert the governor and Knox County Board of Education are failing to make “reasonable accommodations” for their children, who are at higher risk of getting severely sick from COVID-19. They argue their children cannot safely learn in person without a mask requirement this school year.
Earlier in December, a federal judge in Nashville temporarily blocked Tennessee from preventing schools from issuing mask mandates and from stripping local health and school officials of their ability to set COVID-19 quarantine policies.
As lawsuits have raged in Memphis, Nashville and Knoxville over the mask issue, Hamilton County Schools has stayed out of the fray. The district imposed a mask mandate, with an option for parents to opt their children out, for much of the fall. On Nov. 8, all mask requirements were lifted.