Hesitant, but relieved: Knox County parents welcome school without masks

As a father-daughter duo crossed the street to enter Hardin Valley Elementary School on Monday, the dad excitedly told her, "People can see your face again!"

The girl was one of about 60,000 kids in Knox County Schools no longer required to wear a mask to school, following a judge's decision to lift his COVID-19 rule for the district. Full face-to-face interaction was one thing that, for the first time since September, students and teachers had the option to do.

A handful of the dozens of students entering Hardin Valley wore masks voluntarily Monday morning. Parents sending their kids off to school were happy about the sense of normalcy the change offers — with a few serious hesitations about the unknown.

"I'm not too worried," said Ramya Kapadi, whose daughter is in third grade.

"I think people are building immunity and things and so I feel like this is gonna last for a long time," Kapadi said. She does still worry for families with younger children since those under 5 are not yet eligible for vaccines, putting parents in a precarious juggling act over safety.

That was one thing universal masking was really good for, Kapadi said — reducing the overall risk of infection at schools.

"We'll just have to go along with the flow" on how masking plays out the rest of the school year, Kapadi said. Not having to wear a mask is more convenient, but her daughter will still take one to school. The district will continue to offer masks for those who want to wear them, spokesperson Carly Harrington said.

The district did not update its COVID-19 dashboard on Monday afternoon, but cases have been declining rapidly as the omicron surge wanes in Knox County.

How we got here

The federal judge lifted the mask rule for the duration of mediation between the school board and families who filed the lawsuit, which can take up to 60 days. There's a chance Knox County Schools could finish out the academic year with no mask requirement, and that's what Rexton Grey is hoping for.

His daughter is in first grade at Hardin Valley. She's not yet had a full year of maskless school and Grey hopes the change will give his daughter an understanding of what came before the pandemic.

"The biggest thing is just seeing a teacher smile," Grey said.

Because Greer's order came over spring break, Knox County Schools had a built-in transition to switch from required masks to optional masks. But with families coming back from travel and the first day without masks falling on top of each other, is there potential for COVID outbreaks?

Grey's doesn't think so. His family went to Disneyland for the break, where hardly anyone was wearing masks and the people he spoke to were unconcerned.

"I think you got a lot more parents that aren't going to put up with it" if the mask rule were to be reinstated, Grey said.

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Still concerned about safety

Kapadi isn't worried peer pressure will influence her daughter's choice to wear a mask.

"She knows the risks of not wearing a mask," Kapadi said, and the family will switch off and on as circumstances change.

She didn't think masks affected her daughter's ability to learn in school, but they did provide an opportunity to teach other life lessons.

"It was worthwhile explaining why we needed the masks and how viruses work. A lot of the science got fed in, so that was good," Kapadi said. "It also helped reinforce the fact that we need to do our bit for the greater good."

Knox County Schools has gone without required masks before. The school board started the school year without a mask rule in place, which was a controversial decision as cases rose. In September, the lawsuit kicked off and masks were required by court order, not because of a school board vote.

Last week, federal judge J. Ronnie Greer suspended his mask rule based on a request from the Knox County Board of Education and four families who sued for protection for their children with disabilities.

Greer's decision to lift the mask rule acknowledged the decreasing COVID-19 cases in Knox County. Schools were on spring break when the mask rule was suspended, making Monday the first time the suspension took effect in practice.

This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Knox County Schools welcomes back students, staff with optional masks