CLARKSVILLE, TN (CLARKSVILLE NOW) – A heated and rowdy Clarksville-Montgomery County School Board meeting came to a head Tuesday evening when the board voted to institute a temporary mask mandate until January 2022 after hearing two hours’ worth of comments from the public.

Before reaching the decision to implement the mask mandate, which includes the choice for families and staff to opt out, the board heard from 25 speakers that were pre-approved to address topics on Tuesday’s meeting agenda.

‘You are not God’

For the first time since the beginning of the pandemic, the board’s Tuesday meeting agenda included COVID-19 safety protocols. In accordance with the board’s public participation policy, items of discussion have to be on the agenda for members of the public to be approved to address the board.

About 350 parents, students and CMCSS staff members attended the meeting, with 190 allowed in the main board room and 65 allowed in the meeting’s overflow room. Others were turned away once the meeting reached capacity, resulting in tense exchanges in the Central Services parking lot.

The first to address the board was Aron Maberry, a father of three CMCSS students and a pastor at Mosaic Church. He described how his church reopened last year with little issue and no safety protocols in place.

Another speaker, Michael Gray, called the potential of a mask mandate “morally reprehensible and un-American.”

“I am not questioning your authority on this, I am denying it ever existed,” Gray said to the board. “You are not God, and you do not have the authority to dictate to anyone how they may live their lives.”

A CMCSS kindergarten teacher, Amanda Zimmerman, called last school year “totally miserable” because of the COVID-19 safety protocols.

“I could not hear the kids, I could not tell who was talking, who was making sound. The children chewed on their mask and they had to stay in a wet mask,” Zimmerman said in tears.

She then recounted how she unsuccessfully tried to get an exemption from CMCSS for wearing a mask last year, and that she chooses not to wear one because of previous trauma.

‘This is not sustainable’

One speaker made a call for civility and asked for more consciousness of the teachers who are working this year without sick days to take should they need to quarantine after exposure to COVID-19 or test positive.

“It is OK for us to agree to disagree without hysteria or harassing the School Board who are trying to ensure our children can make it the whole school year without being forced back to virtual,” Monica Meeks said. “At the very least, encourage children to respect the choice and liberties of others.”

In support of the mask mandate, Catherine Garrigan, a mother of a first-grader at CMCSS, said the arrival of the Delta variant in August and the trends in the community have brought new concerns about safety.

“In the first month of school, we’ve had almost 4,000 students and staff quarantined. That was in August – what will this look like in February? This is not sustainable,” Garrigan said.

The final speaker made a plea to the board asking them to reduce the potential for harm in schools as a result of COVID-19 infections.

“We know that vaccines, social distancing and masks all help mitigate the spread,” Amy Gerlach said to the board. “This is a public safety issue, not a political issue.”

Several CMCSS nurses attended the meeting in show of support for the mask mandate.

“I understand the passion from those parents; I’m a parent myself,” one nurse told Clarksville Now tearfully. “I get their frustration, I get it, but we’re in the trenches every day. We see these babies come into our offices coughing, sick and not well.”

Participation policy

In addition to the mask discussion, there were several comments about the School Board’s public participation policy, which has been debated throughout the summer.

Several speakers urged for more transparency from the school system and pleaded for the board to represent the majority of CMCSS parents and students.

Callie Cook, who was the first to publicly take issue with the board’s public participation policy in May during a protest at a meeting, told the board she was glad so many people had shown up to the meeting.

“I am so proud of all these people here, because for months it has been one or two of us, and no matter where you stand, I am proud that you are all here,” Cook said, adding it was absurd that public participation even required a discussion.

There were also several questions about barriers to access the public participation request form, especially from speaker Rebecca Michalski, who noted the technological requirements that one must meet in order to send in the request form.

“In order to request to publicly address you all, we have to have Wi-Fi, so you need internet access from some source, you’ve got to have an electronic source that you can pull it (the form) up on, a phone a computer or something like that,” Michalski said.

“In most of the districts in the country, all you have to do to publicly address the board is show up to meeting, sign your name and get in line,” Michalski continued to much applause from the audience.

The board then voted to amend the public participation policy, which originally included a requirement that applications to speak be made 72 hours in advance, down to a 48 hours in advance.

Board discussion

“The School Board is not the policeman of COVID-19,” board member Charlie Patterson said. However, he said, “right now, whatever we’re doing, it’s wrong.”

Patterson then read his proposal for the temporary mask mandate, which is set to run through the first formal School Board meeting, on Jan. 11, 2022.

This was met with interrupting jeers from the audience, some screaming, “We will not comply,” and “Where is your mask?”

Patterson was one of three School Board members to not wear a mask throughout the meeting along with Kent Griffy and Carol Berry.

As he continued reading the proposal, and announced the ability for families to opt out, the audience exploded into outrage from both sides of the issue, with several shouting over board members.

“If you would listen – I’ve been respectful to you. If you would listen, I’ll be glad to answer any questions,” Patterson said to the audience before adding that the opt out form will be posted to CMCSS’ website.

One audience member then shouted while holding up a mask and throwing it in the direction of board members, “If you don’t have your mask, I’ve got one for you.”

Then the audience broke out into a dispute amongst themselves, with several parents uniting against one who was shouting about the district’s current COVID-19 case and quarantine numbers.

Another audience member shouted out, “This is Tennessee, not California,” while another tried to get everyone to calm down and allow the board to talk.

The board began discussion, with Griffy posing questions about whether CMCSS staff would also have the choice to opt out “since it’s not actually enforceable anyway.” The proposal was then amended to include staff, resulting in loud applause and more shouts from the audience.

Carol Berry began shouting over audience members.

“If you were listening to Mr. Patterson, he said we would honor the governor’s order. You can opt out; what are you fussing about?” Berry asked the audience, stirring up more anger.

“No, you’re not speaking, I’m speaking, you’re listening,” she continued over the shouts. “We listened to you for two hours.”

A vote was then taken, and the mask mandate passed 5-2. Voting against were Griffy, who opposed the mandate, and Jimmie Garland, who thought it was not as comprehensive as it should have been.

Casey Williams contributed to this reporting.