Thread by @emwest22

Ahead of tonight's meeting, a group of doctors and healthcare workers have sent videos to the Williamson County School Board rather than show up in person. They fear what will happen last time could happen to them again - that being anti-maskers chasing them into the parking lot.

Video from Allison Macintyre indicates she is a parent of three kids in Williamson County and lives in the Fairview community.

"Unfortunately at the beginning of this year, we had to make the hard decision to pull two of our students as CDC guidelines were not being followed."

Macintyre: My oldest student is fortunately vaccinated, but is unfortunately one of the few at Fairview High School, who wear a mask. We are deeply concerned about the rate of breakthrough cases amongst those vaccinated. We are concerned about the complete lack of mitigation.

Macintyre: Our students deserve to learn in a safe environment, and that's not being provided to them. We need universal masking. We need students to not eat together in the cafeteria. We need events like pep rallies and tailgating parties to not happen.

Macintyre: We actually really need WCS to work in conjunction with the health department to make our schools a safe place to learn. Right now, they aren't.

Dee Sinard is the next video in the pile. She is the mom of two WCS graduates and a pediatrician. She also labeled herself a concerned community member.

"A few weeks ago I reached out and pleaded with you to follow AP and CDC guidelines following universal masking in schools."

Sinard: I believe you listened to my plea and the pleas of many other concerned physicians, public officials, medical officials and informed parents. Unfortunately, your elementary school mask mandate was undermined by rampant and uninformed choices to opt-out of the mandate.

Sinard: Not surprisingly with highly contagious spread of the Delta variant and without proper mitigation levels in place, we are experiencing a very scary and unprecedented surge among WCS students and staff. Superintendent Golden, you promised to keep evaluating the situation.

Sinard: You said you would remain flexible in your response strategies. The national AAP, your Tennessee pediatricians, and your parents know that in-person learning is what our children need and deserve. But w/o enforceable mask requirements and organized contract tracing . . .

Sinard: Safe and in-person learning won't even be an option.

Dr. Meredith Duke is the next video in the pile. She is a surgeon at Vanderbilt.

"I attended the last board meeting, and I was appalled at the crowd and the lack of decorum. The point of the meeting was to discuss COVID-19 mitigation strategies."

Duke: One of the mask mandate supporters was an infectious disease expert from Vanderbilt. I repeat. You had an infectious disease expert here encouraging a mask mandate. She pleaded for our children's safety and adamantly supported a universal mask mandate.

Duke: Her voice was drowned out by a sports talk show host, disgruntled parents and an attorney threatening legal action. She wasn't heard. Her voice should've been amplified by the critical care physicians, the ER physicians, the pediatricians, the nurses -- all in favor.

Duke: We were not heard and that has brought us to today. COVID is spreading in a completely uncontrolled fashion. Our children are sick. Our teachers are sick. Our families are sick. In 2 weeks, both of my sons had COVID exposures.

Duke: I am already canceling surgeries because we don't have enough beds for our patients. We don't have beds. Our hospitals are literally at a breaking point. We need to do something to make this stop. It's imperative you pass and enforce a universal mask mandate.

Duke: We need to improve contact tracing. We aren't mitigating anything. Your job is to provide a safe environment for our children to learn. They aren't safe. Please do your job. Stand up to the anti-mask bullies. And listen to the experts.

Kristina Betters, a pediatric ICU physician, is the next video.

"We are already seeing that Delta is more contagious in children. Since school has gone back in session, we have seen more COVID infections requiring ICU level care."

Betters: Although it is rare for children to die, death is not the only outcome of interests we must take into consideration. I also study the ICU effects a stay has on children after they leave the ICU. Children can have cognitive, physicals and psychiatric impairments.

Betters: Some children will need physical therapy, counseling and extra help from school once they go home from the ICU. In addition, children could get multisystem inflammatory syndrome after a COVID infection. It occurs weeks to months later.

Betters: It can cause severe shock and heart failure. Even children with initially a mild case of COVID, can get MISC. As a pediatrician and as a mother, I think we need to consider the CDC and the AAP guidelines when we are making decisions for what's best for our children.

Todd Bartine is the next video. He has a daughter in sixth grade in WCS.

"To get right to the point, the CDC along with the AAP and local doctors and pediatricians, and area hospitals like WMC have been very clear about what they are recommending for schools in this pandemic."

Bartine: All we've seen so far is a very limited mask requirement, and what we are seeing is the very predictable result of that. At my daughter's school, nearly half the students are out, a number of teachers and staff and bus drivers. Students are in class with subs or staff.

Bartine: When school closes, because inexplicably, we're prevented from using remote learning, they receive no instruction whatsoever. I don't understand this. I know there's some very loud voices involved. I know there's politics involved.

Bartine: But I am begging you to rise above that. See to the safety of the students, teachers and staff, by following the recommendations given to you by medical professionals. Institute a remote learning platform to ensure continuity of learning.

Dr. Jim Keffer is next in the videos. He was a pediatrician who spoke at the last special called WCSB meeting. He said he can't come to the meeting because his practice is being inundated with children with COVID-19 symptoms.

Keffer: I ask that you guys implement a universal masking policy with no options to opt out for religious or political reasons so COVID-19 cannot spread in our schools. It's causing us to have to close schools b/c there's not enough staff to run the schools.

Keffer: Had the policy been enacted, you wouldn't see the number of kids with symptoms or exposures. So I ask you to please enact a universal masking policy without any sort of exemption. We ask for your help in this effort. We would like to see our kids in schools.

Keffer: We would like to see not so many of our kids getting sick.