COVID-19 cases and quarantines have trended downward among students and employees in Hamilton County public schools over the past month, according to data from the district's COVID-19 data dashboard.
In the period from Aug. 24 to Sept. 27, active COVID-19 cases among the district's 44,000 students peaked around Sept. 2 at 731 cases. Active close contacts, or people in close proximity to a positive case, peaked among students around the same date at 4,229.
Similar trends can be seen among teachers and staff in the same time period. Active COVID-19 cases among staff and teachers peaked at 92 on Sept. 2, and active close contacts peaked at 45 on Sept. 1.
The district also reached 70% vaccination rate among teachers and staff on Sept. 22, according to the dashboard, up from 67% at the beginning of the school year.
Ahead of the first day of school Aug. 12, Hamilton County Schools required masks while allowing for parental opt-out for students, a directive soon followed by Gov. Bill Lee's executive order requiring opt-outs in school districts statewide on Aug. 16.
"Districts will make the decisions they believe are best for their schools, but parents will have the ultimate decision-making for their individual child's health and well-being," Lee said at the time.
Nakia Towns, interim superintendent of Hamilton County Schools, asked students to wear masks regardless of their opt-out status two weeks into the school year.
"With Gov. Lee's most recent executive order, we respect and understand parental choice. I am now asking that all students mask, even those with parental opt-out, until the level of community spread has declined. By implementing universal masking, we hope to slow the spread and keep as many students in school as possible," Towns said in a video message last month.
Hamilton County Schools did not respond to a Times Free Press request Tuesday for updated mask opt-out rates by school.
The overall district-wide opt-out rate last week was about 13.6%, spokesperson Cody Patterson said.
At some individual campuses, mask opt-out rates have approached 60%, while others have stayed at 0%.
The mask policy has drawn criticism from parents and community members in favor of universal masking and those against a mask requirement.
Across Tennessee, federal judges have blocked the order in large school districts in Shelby, Knox and Williamson counties this month after families filed lawsuits, stating that opt-outs endanger students with disabilities or medical conditions who cannot yet take a COVID-19 vaccine.
Sara Scott, an advocate with the Tennessee Disability Coalition who is based in Chattanooga, works with families across the state using Medicaid waiver programs for people with disabilities. She said some Hamilton County families are considering taking legal action similar to what has taken place across the state.
Families are hesitant to speak out for a few different reasons, Scott said, including concern about the implementation of their children's individualized learning plans, empathy for the district and potential backlash they might receive.
"It's not necessarily a safe move to speak out, really ever. As a person in the disability community, it is always hard to speak out, but right now, especially, is very hard, because you've got the whole school district against you, basically," she said. "People act like you're just trying to ruin their lives when all you're doing is trying to protect your kid, keep them alive. But it's become this whole game of politics."
Scott said questions she's heard from families revolve around children who cannot learn virtually and the legality of asking people their vaccination status or to wear masks, with masks being a concern for children with hearing or language development disabilities.
Continuous learning plans - the option for fully remote learning across entire districts - are not permitted this year unless under specific circumstances such as a state of emergency, a stance that Lee and Education Commissioner Penny Schwinn have repeatedly defended.
The removal of that option prompted school districts to use stockpile or "snow" days to close down entirely due to student absences and staff shortages, and it also reduced virtual special education options, Scott said.
"I think that's sort of the biggest message that I'm hearing is this doesn't make any sense. We did all this last year, and we didn't have these infections and this year we're doing nothing. People here were quarantined the second day of school, so it's been very frustrating, very difficult for families to work," Scott said.
"I know people who have quit their jobs because now they need to home school, people who have been repeatedly exposed, typical kids who are struggling because they have missed so much school."
Alicia Whitley, a nurse practitioner in Soddy-Daisy, has seven children, two of whom have special needs and are enrolled in Hamilton County Schools. She said her children, in second grade and preschool, receive services such as physical therapy and occupational therapy at school and have a private duty nurse who goes to school with them.
While two of her children with special needs attend school in person, two of her children without special needs have recently switched to homeschooling to reduce possible exposure to COVID-19. She said she will send the home-schooled students, who are in kindergarten and third grade, back to school once they can get vaccinated.
"It's put us, a lot of us parents, in a really, really difficult position where we don't feel like we have the choice to keep our kids in school because it is so unsafe, and then trying to home school them while we work and you know, care for our other kids. I just hate that we were put in this position," Whitley told the Times Free Press Tuesday.
"Like today is actually my last day at my full-time job because I can't keep working full-time and try to home school my kids and keep my sanity," Whitley said. "So if it had been handled perfectly from the beginning, with mask mandates without an opt out, then we probably wouldn't be where we are now."
Contact Anika Chaturvedi at achaturvedi@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6592.