Oak Ridge Today

Oak Ridge Schools will not require masks after governor’s order

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This graph shows the total number of COVID-19 cases in Oak Ridge Schools between Wednesday, Aug. 4, and noon Friday, Aug. 19, 2021. In 2.5 weeks, the number of cases increased from nine to 152. Total cases include both current cases and recovered, and they include both student and staff cases. Gaps in the graph above are days when Oak Ridge Schools didn’t publish data on weekends or when Oak Ridge Today didn’t collect the data. (Data from Oak Ridge Schools/Chart by Oak Ridge Today using Flourish)

Oak Ridge Schools will not require face masks to help prevent the spread of COVID-19 after Tennessee Governor Bill Lee signed an executive order Monday allowing parents to opt out of mask mandates issued by school or health boards. However, Oak Ridge Schools will continue to strongly recommend students wear masks in schools where there is an increase in confirmed COVID cases or evidence of the virus being transmitted in the building.

Before the governor’s order, Oak Ridge Schools had required masks at three schools: Jefferson Middle School, Robertsville Middle School, and Willow Brook Elementary School. Now, the use of masks is strongly encouraged in those schools but not required. All three schools have reported more than 20 COVID cases each.

The governor’s order allowed parents and guardians to use a written notification to opt out of mask mandates for students in kindergarten through 12th grade. Some parents and government officials supported the order, while others, including doctors and parents, opposed it. School districts in Nashville and Shelby County said they will continue to require masks. That prompted a retort from Tennessee Lieutenant Governor Randy McNally, an Oak Ridge Republican, who said that “the governor and the General Assembly cannot and will not allow lawful orders to be defied.”

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Governor allows parents to opt children out of school mask mandates

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Bill Lee

Tennessee Governor Bill Lee on Monday signed an executive order that gives parents the ability to opt their children out of local mask mandates. Parents can opt out of local mask mandates enacted by either school boards or health boards. Some doctors quickly objected to the governor’s order, and legal objections and questions have already been raised.

The governor said districts will make the decisions that they believe are best for their schools, but parents “will have the ultimate decision-making for their individual child’s health and well-being.

“Right now, some of the greatest frustration is occurring in our K-12 schools, especially around the issue of mask mandates,” Lee said in the announcement of his order. “While local decision-making is important, individual decision-making by a parent on issues regarding the health and well-being of their child is the most important.

“No one cares about the health and well-being of a child more than a parent. I am signing an executive order today that allows parents to opt their children out of a school mask mandate if either a school board or health board enacts one over a district.”

Masks are currently required in three Oak Ridge schools where at least 20 COVID-19 cases have been reported: Jefferson Middle School, Robertsville Middle School, and Willow Brook Elementary School. Masks are optional in the other schools. It wasn’t immediately clear how the governor’s order would affect mask mandates at the three Oak Ridge schools.

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More than 100 COVID cases in schools this year, most mild. Four staff members hospitalized during pandemic.

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This chart by Oak Ridge Schools shows the total and current number of COVID-19 cases by school and by student or staff on Monday, Aug. 16, 2021.

There have been more than 100 COVID-19 cases among students and staff members this school year, with most reporting mild symptoms, and a total of four staff hospitalizations reported since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, Oak Ridge Schools said Monday.

There have been no student or staff fatalities since the pandemic began, the school system said.

Monday morning, there were more than 200 students who were restricted from attending school. There were 109 cases of COVID among students and staff members on Monday evening, mostly among students. The largest number of COVID-19 cases is now at Robertsville Middle School. Until Friday, it had been at Willow Brook Elementary School.

Oak Ridge Schools Superintendent Bruce Borchers said the source of exposure to COVID-19 varies.

“A high percentage of students are unable to identify the source of exposure, while others feel the source was a family member, family gathering, or friend,” Borchers said in a response to questions Monday.

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Masks will be required at JMS, RMS

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This graph shows the total number of COVID-19 in Oak Ridge Schools between Wednesday, Aug. 4, and Friday, Aug. 13, 2021. Twenty-one new cases were reported Friday. The number of cases this fiscal year increased 10 times in nine days, from nine to 90. Total cases include both current cases and recovered, and they include both student and staff cases. (Data from Oak Ridge Schools/Chart by Oak Ridge Today using Flourish)

Face masks will be required at Jefferson and Robertsville middle schools starting Monday as they each reported at least seven new COVID-19 cases since Thursday, and 21 new cases were reported in all Oak Ridge schools, including among students and staff members. Eighty-one new cases have been reported in the past 1.5 weeks.

There are now three Oak Ridge schools that require face masks: Jefferson Middle School, Robertsville Middle School, and Willow Brook Elementary School. Willow Brook, which had the first outbreak of COVID-19 cases, required face masks starting this past Monday.

Willow Brook still has the largest number of cases: 27. Nineteen of those are current student cases, and one is a current staff case. Willow Brook reported four new cases between Thursday and Friday.

Robertsville has the second-largest number of cases: 24. Twenty of those are current student cases, and one is a current staff case. Robertsville reported seven new cases between Thursday and Friday.

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ESPN writer to speak at benefit for AC Middle College students at Roane State

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ESPN Senior Writer Chris Low will be the featured speaker at a September luncheon to benefit Anderson County Middle College students attending Roane State Community College.

The Anderson County Chamber of Commerce has partnered with Roane State Community College Foundation and Anderson County Schools to host the luncheon. It’s scheduled from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Wednesday, September 15, at The Hollingsworth Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership, also known as Junior Achievement of East Tennessee, at 2135 North Charles Seivers Boulevard in Clinton. Individual tickets are $30, and tables of 8 are $250, a press release said. Tickets are available at https://tinyurl.com/RSCCMiddle.

Low has been covering college sports for more than 34 years, a press release said. Before he joined ESPN in 2007, Low worked at The Tennessean in Nashville for 10 years covering University of Tennessee athletics. A graduate of the University of Tennessee, Low was born in St. Charles, Missouri, and he grew up in Rock Hill, South Carolina. He lives in Knoxville will his wife Julie, and they have three sons, Josh, Adam, and Sean.

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69 COVID cases reported in Oak Ridge Schools

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This graph shows the total number of COVID-19 cases in Oak Ridge Schools between Wednesday, Aug. 4, and Thursday, Aug. 12, 2021. The number of cases this fiscal year increased more than seven times in eight days, from nine to 69. Total cases include both current cases and recovered, and they include both student and staff cases. (Data from Oak Ridge Schools/Chart by Oak Ridge Today using Flourish)

Sixty-nine cases of COVID-19 have been reported in Oak Ridge Schools this fiscal year. Sixty of those cases have been reported in the past eight days, since Wednesday, August 4. Two dozen cases were reported in the past two days. Students have been back in school about two weeks.

Three schools have had more than 10 cases each, and one, Willow Brook Elementary School, has had more than 20. Willow Brook is the only school where face masks are required.

The largest number of cases is at Willow Brook, where 23 COVID cases have been reported. Some are no longer considered current. Current cases include 16 student infections and two staff member infections.

Robertsville Middle School has had the second-highest number of cases with 17 total. Thirteen are current student cases, and one is a current staff case.

Jefferson Middle School has the third-largest number of cases with 11 total. Ten of those are current student cases.

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COVID cases quintuple in schools in one week

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This graph shows the total number of COVID-19 in Oak Ridge Schools by school between Wednesday, Aug. 4, and Tuesday, Aug. 10, 2021. Schools not shown have reported no COVID cases. The number of cases in the school system quintupled in one week. There were nine total cases in the schools on Wednesday, Aug. 4, and five times as many, 45, on Tuesday, Aug. 10. Total cases include both current cases and recovered, and they include both student and staff cases. (Data published by Oak Ridge Schools/Chart by Oak Ridge Today using Flourish)

The number of COVID-19 cases quintupled in one week in Oak Ridge Schools. There were nine total cases in the schools on Wednesday, August 4. There were five times as many, 45, on Tuesday, August 10. Total cases include both current cases and recovered, and they include both student and staff cases.

Almost half of the school system’s total cases, 20, have been at Willow Brook Elementary School. Sixteen of those are considered current cases. Face masks are now required at Willow Brook. That change went into effect on Monday.

The next largest group of cases, 11, has been at Robertsville Middle School. Ten of those are current. No change in the face mask policy has been announced at Robertsville. With the exception of Willow Brook, face masks are optional in Oak Ridge Schools this school year after being required last year.

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NAACP, Oak Ridge, Schools have back-to-school fair

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There is a back-to-school fair this evening (Saturday, August 7). It will include a presentation about the new school block program and tutoring, information booths, a hot dog meal, and a free movie.

The back-to-school fair is hosted by the NAACP Oak Ridge/Anderson County, Oak Ridge Recreation and Parks Department, and Oak Ridge Schools. It is scheduled at 6 p.m. Saturday, August 7, at Scarboro Community Center Gymnasium at 148 Carver Avenue in Oak Ridge.

At the fair, you can learn about tools for Oak Ridge parents and students at school booths about the new school year block program, the tutoring that is available, and family resources.

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Face masks required at Willow Brook Elementary starting Monday

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The COVID-19 case count dashboard by Oak Ridge School on Friday afternoon, Aug. 6, 2021.

Note: This story was updated at 10 a.m. Aug. 7.

Face masks will be required at Willow Brook Elementary School starting Monday as the number of COVID-19 cases has jumped in a few days from one case to 12. That’s more than half of the 22 current cases in Oak Ridge Schools.

The first case at Willow Brook was a staff member who had been infected, according to a report around Tuesday or Wednesday. On Friday, the outbreak at Willow Brook had grown from one COVID-19 case to 12. Eight of those were student cases, and four were staff cases.

“At this point in time, our data supports mandating masks for students and staff at Willow Brook Elementary School starting on Monday,” Oak Ridge Schools told families in an email Friday. “When active cases and transmission decrease, we will have the option to lift this mandate and return to making the wearing of masks optional.”

The overall number of current cases in Oak Ridge Schools has almost tripled from eight current cases on Tuesday or Wednesday to 22 on Friday.

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Sixteen cases of COVID in Oak Ridge Schools

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The COVID-19 Case Count Dashboard for Oak Ridge Schools on Thursday morning, Aug. 5, 2021.

Sixteen cases of COVID-19 have been reported in Oak Ridge Schools this school year. Fifteen of those cases are current, and one is recovered, according to the school system. The number of current cases appears to have about doubled in a few days, from eight to 15.

Almost half of the current cases, seven of them, are at Willow Brook Elementary School. Four of those cases are students, and three are staff members. That outbreak appears to have been reported in the past few days. A few days ago, there was one staff case reported at Willow Brook and no student cases.

Four cases of COVID-19 have been reported at Oak Ridge High School, all among students. Three of those are current, and one is recovered, Oak Ridge Schools said in a COVID-19 case dashboard posted on its website.

There are three current cases among students at Robertsville Middle School and two are among students at Jefferson Middle School.

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Poll: Do you think Oak Ridge Schools should require face masks?

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A small group of parents and two school board members on Monday said they support following federal guidance and requiring face masks in Oak Ridge Schools to help keep students, staff, and their families from getting infected with COVID-19 and spreading it. They cited the rising case numbers in Anderson County and Tennessee as the delta variant of the new coronavirus causes new case numbers to surge across the country, driving up hospitalizations and making more younger people sick.

The school system did not make a decision Monday, but school officials said they are watching the COVID-19 case numbers and could make a decision later. The school system required face masks last year but relaxed that requirement when cases declined over many months following the winter peak. Now, cases are trending back up, and it’s not clear how long that could continue.

School officials say they have also heard from parents who object to requiring masks again.

What do you think? Should Oak Ridge Schools require face masks in schools to help prevent the spread of COVID-19?

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Some ask for mask requirement in schools but no change yet

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The Oak Ridge Board of Education is pictured above on Monday, Aug. 2, 2021. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

A small group of parents and two school board members asked for face masks to be required in Oak Ridge Schools, but no decision was made during a school board meeting Monday evening.

Some students are too young to get vaccinated, the parents and school board members said. Others have only had one COVID-19 vaccination shot and aren’t fully vaccinated. Four days into the new school year, parent Gretchen Toney said her daughter has already been exposed to COVID-19 at Robertsville Middle School and sent home to quarantine, potentially exposing her four-year-old son at home and continuing to prevent a visit by her father, who has cancer.

Parent Laetitia Delmau said her children at RMS and Oak Ridge High School are getting non-stop comments because they wear masks for their own protection, and the schools should be free of harassment and bullying.

Citing reports from their children and their own personal observations, parents said few people are wearing masks in Oak Ridge Schools.

The parents asked the school system to follow the guidance of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which recommended on Tuesday that everyone should wear a mask indoors in K-12 schools, regardless of vaccination status. The American Academy of Pediatrics has also recommended universal masking in schools this fall, and on Monday, the University of Tennessee announced it will require masks in many indoor settings this fall semester.

“I really request that we follow the CDC guidelines,” Toney said.

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