What you need to know about the tension, players and next steps in the KCS mask lawsuit
A federal lawsuit filed by the parents of disabled students against the Knox County School Board months ago over its lack of COVID-19 safety protocols has heightened tensions between some key county leaders.
Three Knox County groups led by elected officials — the county commission, school board and law director's office — are now embroiled in a conflict over a judge's ruling requiring masks in schools. The varying degrees of authority and local laws governing those three different entities complicates how decisions are made.
The Knox County Board of Education is the defendant in the lawsuit. The Knox County Law Director's Office serves as the board's attorney. The county commission will decide if that relationship changes.
Two school board members are leading the charge to hire private attorneys to represent the board because they want the mask requirement lifted and don't think the county's representation is robust enough.
Law Director David Buuck says the school board has no authority to hire its own attorneys, and that the full board has not even asked to do so. He maintains his office is working diligently on behalf of the board and hiring new lawyers wouldn't end with the mask requirement lifted.
Here's a breakdown of what's happening.
Where does the school board stand right now?
The main priority of a majority of school board members is ending a mask rule put in place by U.S. District Judge J. Ronnie Greer. Now months after the lawsuit was filed, school board member Kristi Kristy and a school district representative have started negotiating with the families involved. If both parties agree on a satisfactory outcome, the lawsuit will end.
In the meantime, some members of the school board are unhappy with how the law director's office is handling the case on their behalf. In the past two weeks, they've taken steps to direct the law office explicitly and have asked him to hire private lawyers to more aggressively pursue their case.
At the same time, the majority of the school board approved a resolution last week saying they have confidence in the law director's office.
So there's a split.
What is the relationship between the law director and school board?
The county law director's office is the entity that handles legal matters for any governing body in Knox County, including the school board. This means attorneys from the law director's office are representing the Board of Education in the lawsuit and trying to persuade the judge on the district's behalf.
The twist is that the school board has no direct authority over how the law director conducts the case because he is an elected official with his own powers.
More: The Knox County School Board is at odds with its own lawyers. What you need to know
Why are school board members frustrated with the law director?
Some school board members — and some parents — are frustrated the mask rule is still in place as the omicron surge has started to quiet.
They also have said they think the law director's office hasn't been forceful enough in fighting the lawsuit. Some of them want the opportunity to hire private lawyers in the hope they might try a new angle, and those board members are trying to find a legal way to do so. They have to clear hurdles to be successful.
Buuck says he's confident a different lawyer wouldn't take a different course of action. Board members say his office should cite information from sources in news articles who question the efficacy of masks or compare the way other communities are handling the virus. But those angles either aren't admissible in court or wouldn't matter in this lawsuit, Buuck argued.
He says his office has researched the case and similar cases in other parts of the country. The law director's office is hitting a roadblock because expert medical organizations like the federal Centers for Disease Control, the Tennessee Department of Health and the Knox County Health Department all say kids should wear masks in school. The judge relies highly on the advice from those experts.
More: Knox County law director: I won't hire private attorneys to fight masks
OK, so how does the County Commission factor in?
The Knox County Commission could pass a resolution that would allow the school board to hire private attorneys. The two frustrated school board members, Kristi Kristy and Betsy Henderson, went out on their own to ask the commission for this. Even if new lawyers are hired, however, they can't take over the case, Buuck said, without his approval.
The school board members asked the County Commission for permission to hire private lawyers. The County Commission will vote on this request next week after it sorts out questions about what the county charter allows them to do.
Who would pay for private lawyers for the Board of Education?
Taxpayers will foot the bill. But there are questions about which department will have to pay if private lawyers are brought in.
The expense could come out of the Board of Education's budget. But the school board members, of course, say they think the law director's office should pay.
The County Commission will have to decide. Stay tuned.
What is the status of the lawsuit?
Parties are awaiting a decision from the U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals. Right now there is an injunction, which is an order from a federal judge, that students and staff must wear masks in school buildings, with some exemptions approved by the judge. The rule is in place until the lawsuit is resolved.
The school board cannot make changes to the judge's mask rule on its own unless the lawsuit or injunction ends. The only course of action is to try to petition the judge.
At a meeting last week, the school board voted to start negotiating with the plaintiffs. It also voted to file a change of circumstance with the judge explaining why the mask rule be lifted. However, whether that petition is filed remains to be seen. Buuck said conditions in Knox County may not have changed enough for the request to be justified.
How does this end?
The mask order can end if the federal judge decides to lift it, or he is overruled by an appellate court.
The mask litigation itself can end in two ways. The Knox County Board of Education can either negotiate and reach an agreement on school rules with the defendants, or hope for a favorable ruling from the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals.
The school board has already voted to reject the plaintiffs' demands for outside observers to check mask compliance. Kristy and a representative from Knox County Schools will now negotiate with the plaintiffs on behalf of the school board, but negotiations may not be productive.
The Court of Appeals may not rule on the case until 2023.
How does recent COVID-19 legislation affect the mask rule?
Gov. Bill Lee signed a law that made it virtually impossible for school boards to impose mask mandates. However, because the mask order for Knox County Schools came from a federal judge, the order overrides state law. A federal judge has temporarily blocked the law from going into effect.
How did the lawsuit originate?
Four families of students in Knox County Schools sued the Knox County Board of Education because members refused to impose a mask rule last fall as COVID-19 cases shot sky-high. The families assert the lack of public health protective measures was a failure to take reasonable precautions to protect their children, who are at risk of getting dangerously sick from COVID-19. The families also sued Gov. Bill Lee over his executive order that allowed parents to let their children opt-out of mask requirements in schools.
Who is suing whom?
The four families are suing the Knox County Board of Education because, according the Knox County charter, the board has the authority to direct schools. The families are not suing Knox County Schools or Superintendent Bob Thomas because neither has the power to impose a mask mandate.
This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Key people, issues and next steps in knox county schools mask lawsuit
