KNOX COUNTY, Tenn. — A federal judge Monday declined to grant a request by a group of Knox County parents to temporarily freeze his mandate requiring the students to wear masks in the Knox County public school system.
U.S. District Court Judge Ronnie Greer said the group that calls itself Unmask Knox County Kids had failed to file the proper paperwork before him in U.S. District Court in Greeneville.
The group has neither filed a verified complaint nor an affidavit alongside their amended complaint, Greer wrote.
The parents contend the current mask mandate is harmful to their children. They want it to end.
They first sued on Feb. 28. They followed up with an amended complaint on March 3.
Greer imposed the mandate at the request of another group of parents last fall. Those parents said they have children with health problems that are further endangered by the presence of COVID-19.
At the time Knox County Schools didn't require masks. The parents said a mask mandate was proper under federal law to accommodate their children's health problems.
Knox County Mayor Glenn Jacobs and state Rep. Jason Zachary. R-Farragut, say they're providing funding to help the parents who oppose Greer's mandate.
On Monday, Judge Greer ordered the parents who filed the September lawsuit, along with the Knox County school board and Gov. Bill Lee, to try mediation as a means of resolving the ongoing lawsuit.
His order comes as COVID-19 numbers, including deaths and hospitalizations, continue to decline.