MEMPHIS, Tennessee — "The last 24 hours for anyone in Tennessee education has been a whirlwind," Kathryn Vaughn said.
Vaughn is a Memphis area elementary art teacher and an expectant mother with newfound worries on the job.
"Going into schools without protections for myself and my unborn child is very difficult," Vaughn added.
She's referring to Gov. Bill Lee's executive order that allows parents to opt their children out of wearing masks in districts with mask mandates, which includes Vaughn's district in west Tennessee.
"No one cares more about the health and well-being of a child than that child's parent," Gov. Lee said Monday when we announced the order.
"I believe in parents having choices, but not when those choices affect the health and safety of everyone in the school," Vaughn responded Tuesday.
The governor's order comes as the risks of the more contagious Delta variant become increasingly real for elementary age children.
"Delta has changed the game for us in the classroom," Vaughn said.
This past week, Tennessee averaged 549 new COVID cases a day for those between ages 0 to 10, who also aren't yet vaccine eligible.
The current 57 COVID hospitalizations of children between 0-17 statewide is also a new record high.
"There is a lot of exposure in our schools right now. It's an unfortunate thing that students are going to get sick, and hopefully we can keep them living," Vaughn said.
Beyond uneven masks requirements for school-age children, Vaughn said she and other teachers face another major challenge.
"Our classrooms are more crowded than they were last year because we don't have the option to teach with distance. So I have more students in my classroom than I ever did during a pandemic, and there is really not enough space to socially distance them," Vaughn said.