House Speaker Cameron Sexton said he asked for a special called legislative session over school mask mandates to discuss who is in charge of a student’s health.
Sexton said the question is do parent’s have the right to make that choice or should a government’s ability outweigh a family decision.
“If you’re asking my personal opinion, what I would like to see is if the school board wants to mandate that mask, that’s fine,” Sexton said. “But, I think parents should have a right to make that decision for themselves and be able to opt out of that if they think they need to.”
Sexton and 73 members of the House Republican Caucus have asked Governor Bill Lee for the convention. Sexton said he believes a parent knows more about their child’s health than a school board does, so they should have the final decision.
“The school board has the ability to mandate. That is perfectly fine. If they feel like they need to, they have that authority,” Sexton said. “I think the parent’s have the right to have an option or to have choices if they do not agree with that decision. So if that is what the school boards want to do, the parent’s job is too make the decision that is best for their student.”
Multiple counties statewide enforced masks last school year including Cumberland County in which Sexton represents. Sexton said what has changed since then is the information available regarding the impact of masks and COVID.
“Last year when you talk to people, they had no idea what COVID was, and they didn’t know how it was,” Sexton said. “I think they were scared by the CDC and by the political campaigns that were going on, and so, they just went along with it. I think now after a year of data after listening to everything, the parent’s and the community has a better idea with what they are dealing with. I think what you see is parents saying I don’t think masks work. I don’t want my child to have to go through another year of wearing masks, because there is issues with a child wearing a mask seven hours a day.”
Sexton said the house is waiting for the Senate now to respond to the letter requesting the session. Sexton said he would like it to be called by Governor Lee, “Sooner rather than later.”
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