Un-Vaxxed Tax: Should The Unvaccinated Have To Pay More For Health Insurance?
Ok, so I think that is a bit too far, especially when healthcare is already so unaffordable for all... Just give them their scarlet letter and move on...
I'm marinating on this before I take a side, but I will point out that they already kinda do this to smokers (on most employer plans I've seen).
There is no level of sucking we haven't seen; in fact, I'm pretty sure we hold the patents on a few levels of sucking NOBODY had seen until the past few years.
I can understand how people get mad at national politics -- Republican or Democrat or whatever....
I just can't imagine getting that angry at a freaking School Board Member. They get paid a pittance -- if anything. They generally want to make decisions to make schools better (or maybe more cost efficient, at worst).
How the hell do you justify threatening a member of your own local community, because they tell a kid they have to wear a mask?
People get angrier about their kids than they do politics.
My child, loved school, but last year would come home crying on a regular basis from the misery that these rules created. Now, she has done the right thing and been vaccinated, but still is being made to wear a mask.
The thing is, many of these school board members and people making the biggest deal about mandating masks are going to go out to restaurants and sporting events without masks. I have seen it in my own community. So when you see these people acting hypocritical, while mandating that vaccinated children that have no power and no voice, wear masks, not socialize with freinds, limit bathroom use, not play with classroom toys, not get books from the library... it makes you angry
So the guy may look unhinged, but we don't know what they are going through.
That's a poor excuse. You could say that about anyone. No matter what anyone is going through, it does not excuse crazy behavior. He also does not look "unhinged." He IS unhinged. No ifs ands or buts about it.
As far as kids, just like with the adults, I feel bad for the ones who have done all the right things, and now have to revert because of the people who didn't do their part.
On the flipside of your scenario, I have a daughter who is high-risk. I appreciate people doing their part to ensure her safety. No kids under the age of 12 have been vaccinated, unless in test trials, maybe. So because someone in a school board may be a hypocrite or not conduct themselves appropriately, that should also bar them from putting in mask mandates? That's along the same rationale as "Yeah, I did bad things as a kid, so I can't hold my own kid accountable."
Blue ostriches on crack float on milkshakes between the sidewalk titans of gurglefitz. --YTown
I'm trying to formulate an argument to that. On the surface, though, it's hard to argue against.
If they were to do it, I think it would be in the form of denied savings vs increased premiums. Same result either way, but I think it really drives home the point of how decisions we make affect our long-term health.
There is no level of sucking we haven't seen; in fact, I'm pretty sure we hold the patents on a few levels of sucking NOBODY had seen until the past few years.
When you smoke you are actively "consuming" a product known to create health issues and costs. It's a choice to effectively hurt your body. If you have strong reservations against taking the vaccine, you aren't in the same proactive position of doing something to hurt yourself. . . it's more akin to someone not putting on a seatbelt. Do insurance companies pay out less if an insured person is hurt in a car crash without using the provided safety equipment? IDK - but it would not surprise me.
The more things change the more they stay the same.
I can confirm from back in my litigation days, if there was actual proof the injured person wasn't wearing a seatbelt, we absolutely raised that as a comparative negligence assertion, meaning that we would not pay out 100% of the ratio if we were defending the liable party.
Blue ostriches on crack float on milkshakes between the sidewalk titans of gurglefitz. --YTown
I agree the details and how's are a little different, but the general gist is the same. You're making a decision that, by all legit measures, is making you less healthy. There are exceptions for vaccines... there are people that have allergies to vaccine ingredients and other medical situations that would result in someone not getting vaccine(s) for health reasons. Not sure those exceptions exist for smokers (of tobacco).
There is no level of sucking we haven't seen; in fact, I'm pretty sure we hold the patents on a few levels of sucking NOBODY had seen until the past few years.
An Indiana doctor’s recent appearance at a small community school board meeting northeast of Indianapolis has racked up tens of millions of views across social media this week, with users falsely claiming it included facts about COVID-19 that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the federal government don’t want you to hear.
In reality, Dr. Dan Stock’s 6-minute speech to the Mount Vernon Community School Corporation in Fortville, Indiana, on Aug. 6 was loaded with falsehoods about the disease and the vaccines used to fight it.
For example: While it’s true that breakthrough cases can occur in a small percentage of vaccinated people, Stock’s overarching claim that vaccines are ineffective against COVID-19 is false. Vaccines remain safe and effective at preventing severe symptoms and death, even as the highly transmissible delta variant has fueled surges in cases worldwide.
Stock identifies himself as a doctor of functional family medicine — a field that focuses on using a holistic approach to identify the root causes of disease. He did not respond to repeated voicemail messages from The Associated Press requesting comment.
Here’s a closer look at the facts around some of his claims in the video.
CLAIM: The Indiana State Board of Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention “don’t bother to read science” before giving health advice, and “everything being recommended by the CDC and the state board of health is actually contrary to all the rules of science.”
THE FACTS: It’s the opposite. Public health guidance from both governmental bodies relies heavily on science.
Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, the CDC and state health departments have frequently updated their guidance to reflect new scientific research that teaches us more about the virus and how it spreads. To say these agencies don’t rely on science is a fundamental misrepresentation of what they do.
“Throughout this pandemic, we have relied on data and science to make recommendations, and we will continue to do so,” Indiana Department of Health Media Relations Coordinator Megan Wade-Taxter told the AP in response to Stock’s claims.
As for Stock’s argument that vaccines are ineffective, Wade-Taxter said 98% of Indiana residents who have been hospitalized with COVID-19 since mid-January are unvaccinated.
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CLAIM: COVID-19 and all other respiratory viruses spread through aerosol particles, which are small enough to go through any mask.
THE FACTS: This is misleading. Stock is right that COVID-19 can spread through the inhalation of small particles containing the virus, but he’s wrong to suggest that masks are futile against them.
“Of course masks protect against aerosols,” said Jose-Luis Jimenez, an aerosol expert and chemistry professor at the University of Colorado.
Jimenez said that while high quality masks that are tightly fitted to the face are better at blocking aerosol particles than looser, poorer quality masks, all masks offer some protection against aerosol spread for you and those around you.
University of Denver aerosol scientist J. Alex Huffman agreed, saying Stock’s claim that masks don’t filter any viral particles is “just straight wrong.”
“Aerosol science has very confidently proven that many, many types of material will filter aerosols to varying degrees depending on particle size,” Huffman said.
COVID-19 also spreads when respiratory droplets from coughing, speaking or sneezing land on someone else’s eyes, nose or mouth. Research shows cloth masks are highly effective at blocking those larger droplets from spreading.
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CLAIM: The current summer surge in COVID-19 infections is caused by antibody mediated viral enhancement.
THE FACTS: There’s no evidence for this. With some viruses, such as dengue, scientists have observed a phenomenon called antibody-dependent enhancement, in which antibodies generated by a past infection or vaccine can bind to a virus but not neutralize it. This can cause some people to experience more severe symptoms if they are infected later.
But contrary to Stock’s claim, this phenomenon is not occurring with the COVID-19 vaccines, medical experts confirm.
“This is false. In SARS coronaviruses, nothing like that has been demonstrated,” said Dr. Raul Andino-Pavlovsky, professor of microbiology and immunology at the University of California San Francisco School of Medicine. “There is no case in which the coronavirus vaccine has enhanced disease.”
Experts previously told the AP that there’s been no evidence of antibody-dependent enhancement occurring with COVID-19, even as antibody therapies are used heavily in treatment of the virus and animal studies were designed specifically to look for signs of the phenomenon.
“Though ADE was a theoretical concern at the beginning of the pandemic, we are not seeing it in the clinical trials or in the real world as vaccines roll out,” said Dr. Helen Chu, an immunologist and professor of medicine at the University of Washington.
___
CLAIM: “No vaccine prevents you from getting infection. You get infected. You shed pathogen.”
THE FACTS: This isn’t true. A classic example of a vaccine that prevents infection is the oral polio vaccine, according to Andino-Pavlovsky. The HPV, pneumococcal and meningococcal vaccines also prevent infection, he said.
It is true that some vaccines, including those used against COVID-19, don’t completely eliminate the possibility of infection, and breakthrough cases can occur. However, the COVID-19 vaccines are extremely effective at preventing severe disease and hospitalization. Now that many people have had the opportunity to get vaccinated in the United States, the majority of people dying from COVID-19 across the country are unvaccinated.
The vaccines are safe, effective and constantly improving, Andino-Pavlovsky said.
The AP has previously debunked claims that the COVID-19 vaccines can cause vaccinated individuals to “shed” viral particles to others.
___
CLAIM: People who have already had COVID-19 “get no benefit from vaccination at all.”
THE FACTS: This is false. Vaccines provide a valuable immune boost even to people who have recovered from the virus, medical experts say — and a recent CDC study shows survivors who ignored that advice were more than twice as likely to get reinfected.
The study adds to growing evidence that people who had one bout of COVID-19 get a dramatic boost in virus-fighting immune cells — and a bonus of broader protection against new mutants — when they’re vaccinated.
Ongoing research also suggests immunity from vaccines may outlast immunity from many COVID-19 cases, according to Sabra Klein, a microbiologist and immunologist at Johns Hopkins University’s Bloomberg School of Public Health.
For those who have had a prior infection and are considering not getting the vaccine, experts warn that having COVID-19 does not guarantee the body will produce enough antibodies to prevent serious disease. Meanwhile, the vaccines are shown to offer protection against serious symptoms, hospitalization and death.
“It’s really clear that if you have been infected, you can be reinfected with the SARS-CoV-2 virus,” said Andino-Pavolvsky. “It has ways to manipulate your immune system and that’s why it’s so successful at producing the pandemic we’re dealing with.”
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This is part of AP’s effort to address widely shared misinformation, including work with outside companies and organizations to add factual context to misleading content that is circulating online. Learn more about fact-checking at AP.
This is why people can use the excuse, "Yeah, well not every expert agrees". It's because there are idiots, deniers and and just general quacks in all walks of life. Even healthcare professionals. Using the words of an idoit to try and make a point is not attractive.
Intoducing for The Cleveland Browns, Quarterback Deshawn "The Predator" Watson. He will also be the one to choose your next head coach.
Sutter Creek Elementary teacher attacked over school's mask guidelines
On the first day of school, a parent allegedly assaulted the principal verbally before attacking a teacher.
SUTTER CREEK, Calif. — As students return to the classrooms, there's already been one report of a parent being abusive towards staff over California's mask guidelines.
According to a letter from Amador County Unified School District Superintendent Torie Gibson, on Wednesday, Aug. 11, the first day of school for Sutter Creek Elementary, a parent verbally assaulted the principal over masks. When a teacher stepped in, the parent attacked the teacher.
The California Department of Public Health guidance states that all students and staff members must wear their masks indoors, regardless of vaccination status. Masks are not required outdoors. Doctors' notes are needed to get a mask exemption for medical conditions, mental health conditions or disabilities that prevent a student from wearing a mask.
In Gibson's letter, the incident happened after school, when the parent was picking up their child.
"Remember, we are not the ones making the rules/mandates, we are the ones required to follow/enforce them if we want to keep our doors open and students at school five days a week," Gibson said in the letter. "I beg that we do our best to set all feelings aside and look at what is best for students."
ABC10 is working to find out if any charges have been filed against the parent and the condition of the teacher. No other information about the incident has been released at this time.
There is no level of sucking we haven't seen; in fact, I'm pretty sure we hold the patents on a few levels of sucking NOBODY had seen until the past few years.
As far as I can tell, the point is for people like him to become unhinged. That is why we have the mandates. That is the game that is being played.
We are not having to wear masks because of people that did not do their part. The numbers simple don’t make that a believable story.
15% of people are not eligible to have the vax. Most of that group is young children. A young child with no mask and without the vax is still ORDERS OF MAGNITUDE less likely to spread and become seriously ill from Covid than a fully masked and fully vaxxed 50 year old.
60% have had the vaccination.
Of the remaining 25%, at least 50% of them have already been naturally exposed (CDC seropravelence data had us at 40% in March) and have greater immunity than those who have merely been vaccinated.
That leaves us with approximately 12.5% of the population that are pristine carriers for the virus.
Simple arithmetic.
So mask requirements have nothing to do with people not doing their part. It has everything to do with people’s narcissistic tendencies and the feeling of importance that they get when they have the ability to control someone else’s world.
I can go to the grocery store and verify for you that 90%+ are no longer masking when given the choice, yet surveys show that 60%+ are supportive of masking when it comes to activities that don’t involve them, like schools. That tells you something about human nature.
The only people that are having to mask-up are those who have narcissists lording over them, and it is not just masking. Of course, in the case of schools, it goes far beyond masking and entails the destruction of the entire school social experience.
I can give you a perfect example outside of politics. The OSU president recently announced on Aug 2 that masks were required in all campus buildings, “effective immediately”. In less than a week on Aug 8, she posted pictures on Twitter showing her and other elites of the University, indoors, on campus, not wearing masks. I don’t have any personal problem with her, but she is a good example of this kind of behavior. https://twitter.com/PresKMJohnson/status/1424428450094456845?s=20 She has been criticized for this but has not apologized or taken down the tweet. People might wonder why she would do this after she’s been caught. The truth is that she didn’t get caught, she wants people to see this. That is why she posted it. This is a victory lap. She wants people to know that she has power that they lack and it gives part of her satisfaction to make others bear this burden that she gets to not bear.
You can see evidence of this behavior everywhere, but it is especially prevalent in any sort of bureaucracy, or any situation where the decision makers have the opportunity to avoid the burden of their own rules.
I guess my overall point is that anyone can criticize that man, but we all should know that his reaction is exactly what people wanted to see. People are instituting these rules because they want to control other people, because they want to make people feel anxiety over losing control of their own world, because they like seeing people lose control of their emotions like that. They are taking joy in this person’s negative emotions. It makes them feel powerful and important. The average person is far more sadistic than most of us would care to acknowledge.
UMMC Prepping Garage For Field Hospital, Requesting Federal Support To Staff It
Dr. Alan Jones, director of UMMC’s emergency department, had a stark warning for the state. “If we continue on this trajectory, within the next five to seven or ten days we will see the failure of the hospital system in Mississippi,” he said.
What does that failure look like? UMMC chief Dr. LouAnn Woodward said the nightmare scenario was “total diversion” for the entire hospital, bringing up Grady Hospital in downtown Atlanta, which has now been forced to divert all transfers, the final stage of total resource saturation.
DALLAS — Hospitals in Texas are suspending elective procedures and turning to 2,500 medical workers from other states to help combat a surge in Covid cases as increasingly younger and healthier patients who didn’t get vaccinated against the virus crowd treatment floors.
That's quite possible. But if it is, then maybe you explain to me where my numbers are wrong.
Explain to me why clearly over 90% of the population is not masking in public, yet surveys show over 60% support masking in schools.
Explain to me why leaders are consistently caught violating the own rules.
Explain to me why the majority of people being subjected to these rules just happens to be people who face severe reprisals for not obeying (losing job or getting kicked out of school).
Explain to me why the majority of places where the little person has some control, e.g as a consumer in a store, stadium, or theme park, then there is no need for masks.
Bro you know how deep a rabbit hole you can go with that logic?
“Why did you murder your wife”
“Did I murder my wife? Why is there a rule against murder? It’s only a tool to control”
I’m baked enough to have that philosophical argument. Are you sober enough to counter?
“To announce that there must be no criticism of the President, or that we are to stand by the President, right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public.”
Bro you know how deep a rabbit hole you can go with that logic?
“Why did you murder your wife”
“Did I murder my wife? Why is there a rule against murder? It’s only a tool to control”
I’m baked enough to have that philosophical argument. Are you sober enough to counter?
I would say that is going waaaaay down the rabbit hole. we're just talking here about a parent that is irate because they are unhappy with how their children are being treated as collateral damage by people that are playing a power game.
Bro you know how deep a rabbit hole you can go with that logic?
“Why did you murder your wife”
“Did I murder my wife? Why is there a rule against murder? It’s only a tool to control”
I’m baked enough to have that philosophical argument. Are you sober enough to counter?
I would say that is going waaaaay down the rabbit hole. we're just talking here about a parent that is irate because they are unhappy with how their children are being treated as collateral damage by people that are playing a power game.
Talk about children as collateral damage by people playing a power game….
“Mask mandate debate heats up in Florida as more children are being hospitalized with COVID.
Many children in Florida returned to school Tuesday without masks despite the surging number of COVID cases and hospitalizations. Florida leads the nation in pediatric hospitalizations, with more than 300 reported in the last week.”
we're just talking here about a parent that is irate because they are unhappy with how their children are being treated as collateral damage by people that are playing a power game.
Yet the parent is playing Russian Roulette with their kids. Now that's a great game for all loving parents to play.
I saw a tik tok from Georgia last night from a mom who said that in Georgia where she is, they are telling teachers that if they test positive and feel ok, they can still go to school. If they even lose their sense of taste and smell, they should still go to school. If a kid test positive but are asymptomatic, they can still go to school. I thought she was friggin nuts-
I found an article from 5 days ago from Cobb County GA that pretty much confirms most of what she said. These people are insane
(CNN)Covid-19 cases and hospitalizations are surging and in Dallas County, Texas, there are "zero ICU beds left for children," county judge Clay Jenkins said in a news conference Friday morning.
"That means if your child's in a car wreck, if your child has a congenital heart defect or something and needs an ICU bed, or more likely if they have Covid and need an ICU bed, we don't have one. Your child will wait for another child to die," Jenkins said. "Your child will just not get on the ventilator, your child will be CareFlighted to Temple or Oklahoma City or wherever we can find them a bed, but they won't be getting one here unless one clears." The judge added no ICU beds have been available for children for at least 24 hours. The Texas Department of State Health Services told CNN the shortage of pediatric ICU beds is related to a shortage in medical staff.
"Hospitals are licensed for a specific number of beds and most hospitals regularly staff fewer beds than they are licensed for. They can't use beds that aren't staffed. With the increase in COVID cases, hospitals are experiencing a shortage of people to staff the beds that they are licensed for," department spokesperson Lara Anton said in an email, adding that staffing agencies in the state are working on recruiting medical surge staff from across the US. Earlier in the week, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott announced more than 2,500 medical staff would be deployed to hospitals in the state to help with the increasing number of Covid-19 patients. More than 11,200 people are hospitalized with Covid-19 in Texas, according to state data, with roughly 323 ICU beds left available statewide.
Jenkins spoke alongside other elected officials as well as leaders from the Workers Defense Action Fund and other groups who said Abbott's handling of the pandemic is putting residents in danger. In July, Abbott issued an executive order combining many of his earlier Covid-19 orders, which included language that no governmental entity, including school districts, could require masks.
Dallas was among several Texas counties that sued the governor this month and asked for a restraining order against Abbott's order to be able to implement mask mandates in hopes of curbing the spread of the virus. On Tuesday, Judge Tonya Parker determined Dallas County residents "have and will continue to be damaged and injured" by Abbott's order and ruled that Jenkins, the county judge, should be allowed to implement mitigation strategies at the local level to protect the community. Jenkins on Wednesday issued an emergency order mandating masks in certain public spaces in the county, including at county offices and buildings and commercial entities "providing goods or services directly to the public." The emergency order also mandates masks indoors for students, teachers, staff and visitors at county child care centers and schools, regardless of vaccination status. "Our hospitals and our people desperately need some time to get bed capacity and doctor capacity up so their hospitals won't be overrun," Jenkins said Friday morning.
In an attempt to block the local mask mandate, Abbott and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton filed a petition saying the county's emergency order violates the governor's order. "This isn't the first time we have dealt with activist characters. It's déjà vu all over again," Paxton said in a statement Wednesday. "Attention-grabbing judges and mayors have defied executive orders before, when the pandemic first started, and the courts ruled on our side -- the law. I'm confident the outcomes to any suits will side with liberty and individual choice, not mandates and government overreach." But with health care staff overworked and hospital resources strained, "stakes are very high," Jenkins said in the Friday conference, and added that it's "not asking that much of people to wear a mask."
"We do need to push back on these attempts to erode local control because government works best when it's closest to the people," Jenkins said. "But we need to remember also ... this is not a battle between Gov. Abbott and local leaders who happen to be Democrats or school board members." "We are all on team public health," the judge said. "And every person needs to understand that the enemy is the virus, it's not each other.
You can point out all the undeniable facts you wish. The "yeah but" crowd doesn't care about evidence. Their minds are made up. Nothing will change them.
Intoducing for The Cleveland Browns, Quarterback Deshawn "The Predator" Watson. He will also be the one to choose your next head coach.
I don't think they're facing the reality of their decisions at all. If they had faced it they would change course. What they have done instead is remain in denial and be so stubborn they would rather kill the people they are supposed to be protecting than face anything. When people face things they change course to correct their error. Neither has done that so far.
Intoducing for The Cleveland Browns, Quarterback Deshawn "The Predator" Watson. He will also be the one to choose your next head coach.
Bro you know how deep a rabbit hole you can go with that logic?
“Why did you murder your wife”
“Did I murder my wife? Why is there a rule against murder? It’s only a tool to control”
I’m baked enough to have that philosophical argument. Are you sober enough to counter?
I would say that is going waaaaay down the rabbit hole. we're just talking here about a parent that is irate because they are unhappy with how their children are being treated as collateral damage by people that are playing a power game.
You could make that same argument in just the opposite direction.
Same exact argument. Actually, when you think about it, it’s more valid in the other direction. Way more valid.
I don’t have time right now to get to your earlier post on the numbers but I’d like to discuss that too at some point.
Last edited by dawglover05; 08/14/2104:08 PM.
Blue ostriches on crack float on milkshakes between the sidewalk titans of gurglefitz. --YTown
*Thinking to myself* I wonder if there is any truth to the rumors that A. The vaccine makes folks magnetic, and that's what caused the earthquake in Haiti.
B. Being forced to wear masks caused the earthquake.
C. There was no earthquake. It's all a lie to control us.
You can point out all the undeniable facts you wish. The "yeah but" crowd doesn't care about evidence. Their minds are made up. Nothing will change them.
Pit, I am just posting some of the articles about what is going on in the south.
And my personal opinion; other than the effects on kids who can't make their own decisions...
if you want the freedom to make whatever decision, you must accept the responsibility of the outcome of that decision-
I certainly agree with you. Just because there is a portion of our society that won't accept the facts doesn't mean they shouldn't be presented to them. I actually live in the south. Less than 30 minutes from where that disgusting Williamson County school board meeting that's been in the news took place.
I'm not sure what people can't seem to grasp about health safety measures. Your freedom to choose whether to wear a mask isn't about you. If you have cancer and choose not to get chemo treatments, that's your choice. You can't spread your cancer to other people. I suggest in the future that all of these anti maskers who ever need surgery demand that their surgical teams not wear masks. I mean they don't do any real good, right?
But when you're talking about a choice that could impact many of those around you from the perspective of their health, that decision is no longer yours to make. You can't claim it's your choice to risk the health and lives of others.
At that point people are changing the word freedom into freedumb.
Intoducing for The Cleveland Browns, Quarterback Deshawn "The Predator" Watson. He will also be the one to choose your next head coach.
*Thinking to myself* I wonder if there is any truth to the rumors that A. The vaccine makes folks magnetic, and that's what caused the earthquake in Haiti.
B. Being forced to wear masks caused the earthquake.
C. There was no earthquake. It's all a lie to control us.
It's ok GM, the nice lads in the white suits will be along shortly to help you work through all of this.
Dammit. The little guys starts 1/2 day preschool in a couple weeks so it'll be interesting getting him into a mask routine.
There is no level of sucking we haven't seen; in fact, I'm pretty sure we hold the patents on a few levels of sucking NOBODY had seen until the past few years.
Texas district makes masks part of dress code to get around Abbott's order Phil Helsel Wed, August 18, 2021, 1:46 AM
A small Texas school district has made facial coverings part of its dress code, in a bid to get around Gov. Greg Abbott's executive order banning mask mandates.
The board of the Paris Independent School District, which has about 4,000 students, said in a statement Tuesday that the governor's order does not usurp its ability to manage schools.
"The Board believes the dress code can be used to mitigate communicable health issues, and therefore has amended the PISD dress code to protect our students and employees," the district said.
The measure — which read "For health reasons, masks are required for all employees and students to mitigate flu, cold, pandemic, and any other communicable diseases" — will be revisited at every monthly trustee meeting and could be changed later, The Paris News newspaper reported.
The vote was 5-1 to alter the dress code in the district, which will welcome back students on Thursday.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended last month that all students in kindergarten through 12th grade wear masks when they return to classrooms, even those who have already been vaccinated.
The vote came the same day that Abbott's office announced that the governor had tested positive for Covid-19. Abbott is fully vaccinated, his office said.
The move from the school district based in the northeast Texas town of Paris comes as some districts in the state are attempting to require masks amid a Covid-19 surge and despite the governor's order.
Driven by the more transmissible delta variant, Texas has seen an increase in Covid-19 cases that has raised alarms. The state has requested five mortuary trailers from the federal government to store bodies. Abbott has also asked hospitals to delay some procedures to free up beds for coronavirus patients.
Abbott, a Republican, has fought mask mandates and issued an executive order to bar local officials from imposing them. Some school districts did so anyway.
Abbott's executive order is being challenged in court. A disability rights group filed a federal lawsuit Tuesday.
Disability Rights Texas says some students with disabilities have conditions that put them at greater risk of Covid-19 and prohibiting safety measures is a barrier to education because those students require in-person instruction and the spread of the delta variant could derail those plans.
On Sunday, the Texas Supreme Court blocked mask rules in Dallas and Bexar counties. The high court's orders are temporary pending a court hearing.
Abbott has sought to portray his stance as protecting the freedoms of Texans. "The path forward relies on personal responsibility — not government mandates," the governor said earlier this month.
Some other Republican governors or legislatures across the United States have also banned or sought to ban mask requirements.
Tennessee Becomes Latest State To Ban School Mask Mandates — Here's The Full List
Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee signed an executive order late Monday that prevents local school districts from imposing mask mandates that don’t allow parents to opt out of them, making Tennessee the ninth state to enact measures that prohibit schools from requiring mask wearing—though not all of them are presently in effect.
Under Tennessee’s order—which is in effect through at least October 5—K-12 schools must allow parents or guardians to opt their children out of any mask order it imposes, including for masks in school, on school buses or at school functions.
Tennessee joins Florida, Texas, Iowa, Oklahoma, South Carolina and Utah in having orders or laws that are presently in effect that prohibit school districts from imposing mask requirements.
Arizona also has passed a measure that prohibits schools from imposing mask mandates, but it doesn’t go into effect until September 29, and a Phoenix-area district’s mask mandate was at least temporarily upheld in court because the mask mandate ban was not yet in effect.
Arkansas imposed a mask mandate ban, but it was halted by a state court while a challenge moves forward.
In addition to the measures that target schools, Iowa, Florida, Montana, Arizona, North Dakota, Texas, Tennessee and South Carolina have also banned local governments from imposing mask mandates, as had Arkansas before the law was struck down along with the school prohibition.
Big Number
66%. That’s the percentage of Americans who oppose state-level bans on local governments and schools imposing mask mandates, an Axios/Ipsos poll conducted August 13-16 found. Republicans, however, are largely in support of the state measures, with 57% backing them. What To Watch For
More states may ban school mask mandates. A Republican legislator in Ohio has said he’ll introduce a bill to enact a ban, and an effort is under way by a group of parents in Mississippi to get that state to impose such a measure. A number of pending lawsuits are also seeking to have the existing state-level bans overturned, including multiple lawsuits in Florida and Texas and challenges in Oklahoma and Arizona. Texas lower court judges have ruled in favor of localities challenging the ban multiple times and issued temporary orders that allow the mandates to remain in effect while the litigation plays out. Contra
Ten states have made masks mandatory in schools as of early August, according to a list compiled by the Pew Charitable Trusts: California, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Louisiana, Nevada, New Jersey, Oregon and Washington. Key Background
School mask mandate bans have proved incredibly controversial as a new school year has started amid the spread of the delta variant, which has left children under 12 who are still ineligible for Covid-19 vaccines particularly vulnerable. In addition to the lawsuits, a growing number of school districts in a majority of the states with bans in place have simply moved forward with openly violating the bans, imposing their own mask mandates despite the state rules. Governors in Florida and South Carolina have suggested that any school districts that violate the bans could be punished by having some of their funding revoked, though the White House has said federal funding can be used to replace lost state funds.
Dr. Adrienne Battle Statement on Mask Executive Order
Dr. Adrienne Battle, Director of Metro Nashville Public Schools, has released the following statement in response to Governor Bill Lee’s executive order 84 relative to mask requirements in schools:
“The Metro Nashville Board of Education and I are charged with educating our students and with keeping them safe. Universal masking policies, during the pandemic, are a key mitigation strategy to do just that. To allow anyone to opt out of these policies for any reason, other than legitimate medical need, would make them ineffective and would require more students to be quarantined and kept out of the classroom.
“The Governor’s executive order was released without prior notice to school districts for review or comment. As such, Metro Schools will continue to require face masks, pursuant to the rules adopted by the Board, as we further review this order and explore all options available to the district to best protect the health of our students, teachers, and staff.”
Nashville DA won’t prosecute Metro Nashville teachers if they require masks, report says
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WVLT) - Nashville District Attorney General Glenn Funk says he will not prosecute school officials who continue to enforce mask mandates, even if parents try to opt their child out, according to Nashville CBS affiliate WTVF.
The decision comes after Gov. Bill Lee signed an executive order allowing parents to opt their children out of mandates.
Funk told Nashville school board member Emily Masters he would not punish teachers for violating the order in an email obtained by WTVF.
“I will not prosecute school officials or teachers for keeping children safe,” he told Masters in the email.
Metro Nashville Public Schools officials announced shortly after the order was signed that they would continue to enforce their mask mandate, which requires anyone in a school building to wear a mask.
The mandate follows guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which says all students, teachers and staff should continue to wear masks regardless of vaccination status.
Sadly, for many, lines have been drawn. What a politician does or doesn't do means nothing. The only thing those who have drawn such likes care about is if there's an R or a D on the ballot.
Intoducing for The Cleveland Browns, Quarterback Deshawn "The Predator" Watson. He will also be the one to choose your next head coach.
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