Collierville Schools will enforce mask mandate,
After meeting with county health officials and attorneys, Collierville Schools will enforce the Shelby County Health Department’s mask requirement for schools, the district said Monday afternoon.
“Effective immediately, any Collierville Schools student who refuses to wear a mask/face covering at school will be sent home,” district spokesperson Mario Hogue wrote in an emailed statement. “As a reminder, the only permissible exemption to the mask mandate is an Ada-approved disability.”
The district said it would require masks, but had previously instructed school leaders to not get into confrontations about masks with parents or students, Hogue told The Commercial Appeal. Any unmasked students were to stay and learn in the classroom.
The Shelby County Health Department issued enforcement guidance Monday morning, stating that students who weren’t in compliance with the mask requirement should be sent home.
Shortly after the guidance was issued Monday, Hogue said the district was looking into legal ramifications of telling a child who refuses the mask to wear it.
In the statement Monday afternoon,
Hogue said Collierville Schools Superintendent Dr. Gary Lilly and Assistant Superintendent Jeff Jones video conferenced with the Shelby County Health Department and a county attorney.
“During that conference, it was made clear that the district is obligated to require and enforce universal indoor masking of all students, employees, and visitors, in compliance with Health Order No. 24,” Hogue said. “Additionally, it was confirmed that the Shelby County Health Department has the authority to close any school determined to be a danger to public health due to the presence of unmasked individuals.”
The health department says it is relying on Tennessee code 68-2-609(4) to issue the mask requirement.
The law, signed by Gov. Bill Lee in late May, amends the duties of public health officers. As quoted in the health department release: “The county health officer is empowered to order…rules and regulations as are necessary or appropriate to protect the general health and safety of the county.”
Some residents of Collierville have been outspoken against the mask mandate.
There was an anti-mask protest outside a Collierville municipal building Monday morning, local news chanl WMC Action News 5 reported.
Most of the public commenters to the Shelby County Commission meeting Monday who were against masks identified themselves as Collierville residents.
The Shelby County Health Department requirement, which requires masks of any person, regardless of vaccination status, in a school or daycare, follows federal guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the American Academy of Pediatrics.
When issued Friday, the requirement inflamed some politicization of the issue.
Last week, Tennessee House Speaker Cameron Sexton, R-crossville, issued repeated calls for a special session, taking issue with districts implementing mask mandates or choosing to close due to the virus.
Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee isn’t ready to say whether he supports calling the legislature back for a special session to address mask requirements in schools.
And he isn’t prepared to confirm whether he would get behind legislation to strip local officials’ ability to determine their own mask policies for students and teachers.
“The way the laws in this state are set up, school districts have the authority to make those decisions,” Lee told reporters Monday morning after speaking in Franklin at a statewide conference for county emergency management officials.
He also criticized the Shelby County Health Department’s requirement.
“The health department overriding those school districts’ decisions, in my view, that wasn’t the best approach,” Lee said.
Tennessean reporter Natalie Allison contributed.
Laura Testino covers education and children’s issues for the Commercial Appeal. Reach her at laura.testino@commercialappeal.com or 901-512-3763. Find her on Twitter: @Ldtestino