Photo Credit: The Greeneville Sun
The Tennessee Conservative [By Paula Gomes] –
As we reported last year, U.S. District Judge Ronnie Greer of Greeneville, TN has kept the children of Knox County masked despite appeals. His injunction requires over 60 thousand students to remain in masks until the lawsuit is resolved. A final ruling is not predicted to happen until 2023.
A Career and Technical Education teacher in Knox County informed The Tennessee Conservative that one of the advisors on the case has been found to be friends with Judge Greer and furthermore, the 4 plaintiffs currently do not even have their children participating in “in-person” learning.
States and school systems around the nation are dropping mask mandates leaving Knox County parents frustrated and angry.
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Earlier this month, the parent plaintiffs petitioned the court for third-party monitors to ensure the rules were being followed and claimed that Knox county purposefully staged photos “to deceive the Plaintiffs with a false and defensive impression of mask compliance.” Photos of students, parents, staff and bus drivers all not wearing masks were submitted as evidence that the court order was not being enforced.
A new motion requested that a neutral monitor be appointed that would have the authority to make unannounced visits to any Knox County school and any extracurricular activities. This monitor would then make reports to the plaintiffs and to the court.
The plaintiffs also proposed that Knox County schools come up with a compliance plan for students and parents that would include disciplinary measures.
The Knox County school board met within a week of this development to discuss the filing and board member Patti Bounds immediately asked for an outright rejection of the plaintiff’s requests. The board voted on a motion to reject these requests which passed 5 to 1, with 3 board members choosing to pass.
Knox County parent, Jhesika Reynolds, is calling on other parents to sign her petition to end the mandate.
“I am LIVID,” she said. “My kids have been forced into masking since moving to Knoxville and I am over it… After the display of 75,000 free faces at the Super Bowl, you should be infuriated to know kids are still mandated to mask in school!”
“Myself and many others are done watching our children come home from school every day wearing trash on their faces and breathing in all of the dirt, grime, and bacteria they have collected on that trash throughout their day.”
About the Author: Paula Gomes is a Tennessee resident and reporter for The Tennessee Conservative. You can reach Paula at paula@tennesseeconservativenews.com.
