Shortly after Shelby County Schools announced that it was going entirely virtual, Tennessee Governor Republican Bill Lee released Tennessee’s “Safe Reopening Plan” for schools across the state. Lee tells Todd Starnes on the ‘Todd Starnes Show’ children suffer when they are not allowed to go to school in person for extended periods of time.
“It’s a source of nutrition,” Lee tells Starnes. “It’s a source of mental health services, schools are.”Shelby County Schools Superintendent Joris M. Ray says that Memphis is on track to be the next New York City in coronavirus cases. Instead of making claims about the future without substantial data, Lee says he wants to make decisions based on data that already is out there.
“That’s why I”m advocating for opening schools in person all across the state today,” Lee says, “we’re going to do everything we can to support districts in their efforts to do so.”
In the plan released Tuesday, Tennessee Commissioner of Health Dr. Lisa Piercy says “Leading health organizations, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, American Academy of Pediatrics, and National Academies of Sciences, Mathematics, and Engineering, have all stressed the importance of in-person learning for students.”
The plan covers what to do if your child gets sick, as well as the protocols for what to do if your child is exposed in the classroom. To check out the entire plan, read it here.