GERMANTOWN, Tenn. — Parents of more than 2,000 students said they don’t want their kids to wear masks in school. But what would that mean for all the kids under 12 who can’t get vaccinated, not to mention kids who live in multi-generation households where an entire family could be put at risk of getting a serious case of the virus? That's Kenisha's Redmon concern.
"She was born with a hole in her heart," Redmon said. "I'm a little concerned you know with the kids walking around without masks."
Eight-year-old Heaven Franklin had heart surgery four years ago. She goes to Riverdale Elementary in Germantown. She is too young to get the vaccine, so her only protection against COVID-19 is masks. Heaven's mother, Redmon, said with her daughter having a compromised immune system, the virus could put her back in the hospital.
"She did have her chest opened and cracked and she is a heart patient she just goes to get a check once a year but she doesn't have any problems. Don't want COVID, the delta, or anything to put her in the hospital," Redmon said.
Heaven lives with her mother and her 69-year-old grandmother. They both have congestive heart failure. So if Heaven gets the virus, she and her entire family are at risk.
"If we were to get COVID we might end up on a ventilator. We are vaccinated, my mother and I, but we have a child under 12 in the house," Redmon said.
Shelby County Schools has always said masks will be required, regardless of the Governor Bill Lee's executive order that allows parents to opt their children out of wearing masks in districts with mask mandates. But that’s not the case with the six suburban districts in the county. Of the more than 2,000 opting out at this point, almost half attend school in the Germantown Municipal School District.
Germantown is second only to Collierville Schools in the number of students opting out, and Redmon said that scares her.
"Picture your child, your daughter your son, a loved one fighting for their life on a ventilator in the ICU," she said. "Think about that when you decide to send them somewhere without a mask."
According to the CDC, wearing a mask not only protects strangers but yourself and your loved ones. Here's a break down what we’ve learned from the six suburban districts in Shelby County so far.
Collierville has the most students opting out of wearing masks right now, with 972 students. Germantown schools are next with 956, in the Lakeland School System, 185 students are opting out. Bartlett is reporting 155 students and Millington reported 40 of its students are not wearing masks. We’re still waiting to hear from Arlington schools.
