Knox County School Board calls for masking exemptions

KNOXVILLE, Tennessee (WVLT) – The Knox County School Board has filed a list of proposed exemptions for its federally-imposed mask mandate. The proposal comes after a judge ordered the school district to reapply a cover-up warrant following a lawsuit with three families from Knox County schools.

According to court documents, the school board is asking that students with several qualities be exempted from the order. Among other proposed exemptions, the documents list Down syndrome, pollen allergies, depression, and any exceptions specified by a doctor as reasons why students need to dispense with masks.

The council stressed in the file that not all students with the conditions listed are unable to wear a mask.

“KCBOE notes that not all students with some of the conditions below are unable to wear a mask (for medical, behavioral or educational reasons), but some students certainly are and therefore KCBOE had to list the entire category of conditions. medical in order to comply with the Order, ”the documents said.

The federal decree as it is currently obliges the school system to apply the same masking mandate that it had for the 2020-2021 school year. According to documents from Knox County Schools, last year’s warrant mentions that a medical condition prescribed by a doctor may exempt a student from wearing a mask in school with the principal’s approval. The same exemption can be included in a teacher’s training plan.

The documents are to be read in full below:

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