Chester County Board Of Education revises COVID protocol to match new state law

The Chester County Board of Education, due to the Tennessee General Assembly’s COVID Omnibus Bill (Senate Bill 9014), revised the school district’s COVID-19 protocol “C-19 Return to School” during the November 18 meeting to match the law Governor Bill Lee signed into effect Friday November 12.
The bill states:
“This amendment prohibits a school or the governing body of a school from requiring a person to wear a face covering while on school property, unless:
(1) The principal or president of the school submits a written request to the school’s governing body for the adoption of a policy requiring all persons on school property to wear a face covering;
(2) Severe conditions exist;
(3) The school’s governing body adopts such a policy on a school-by-school or campus-by-campus basis and only:
(A) For the school for which a request is submitted by the principal or president;
(B) If all other conditions or requirements of this item (3) exist at the time the policy is adopted; and
(C) If the policy is in effect for no more than 14 days;
(4) The school provides face coverings for persons 12 years of age and older that meet the U.S. National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health N95 classification of air filtration, meaning that the face covering filters at least 95 percent of airborne particles, including droplets containing COVID-19; and
(5) The school provides age-appropriate face coverings for persons under 12 years of age, but over five years of age, that provide air filtration similar to the face coverings described above in (4).”
Policy updates from the policy subcommittee were also approved that night.
The meeting started with a spotlight on West Chester Elementary for their daily video announcements that help educate the children and help them know each other.
The next board of education meeting will be at 7 p.m. Thursday, December 16 at the board of education conference room.