Author: Maya Smith

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Department of Education Investigating Tennessee Over School Mask Opt-Outs

The U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) is investigating Tennessee along with four other states to determine whether statewide prohibitions on universal indoor masking discriminates against students with disabilities.

In a letter to Tennessee’s Commissioner of Education Penny Schwinn, Suzanne Goldberg, the department of education’s acting assistant secretary for civil rights, informed that the investigation would explore if Tennessee’s policy that allows parents to opt out of school mask mandates prevents students with disabilities who have higher risk of severe illness from Covid-19.

Gov. Bill Lee issued Executive Order No. 84 earlier this month allowing Tennessee parents to opt their child out of school mask mandates regardless of school districts policy. 

Goldberg said OCR is concerned that this policy may be preventing schools from meeting their legal obligations not to discriminate based on disability and to provide equal educational opportunities. 

“The Department has heard from parents from across the country — particularly parents of students with disabilities and with underlying medical conditions — about how state bans on universal indoor masking are putting their children at risk and preventing them from accessing in-person learning equally,” U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona said in a press release. “It’s simply unacceptable that state leaders are putting politics over the health and education of the students they took an oath to serve.

“The Department will fight to protect every student’s right to access in-person learning safely and the rights of local educators to put in place policies that allow all students to return to the classroom full-time in-person safely this fall.” 

Following the announcement of the investigation, Tennessee Senator Raumesh Akbari who represents the Memphis area, urged Lee to rescind his executive order.

“Gov. Bill Lee’s administration should immediately suspend its order negating local mask rules in schools until this federal investigation concludes,” Akbari said. “All our students, including those who have underlying health conditions, deserve access to safe learning conditions.”

Other states being investigated include Iowa, Oklahoma, South Carolina, and Utah. 

This comes days after a class action lawsuit was filed against Gov. Bill Lee and Shelby County alleging that allowing students to opt out of the mask mandate violates the Americans with Disability Act. 

The plaintiffs, two Shelby County families, claim that Executive Order No 84 forces parents of children with disabilities “to make the impossible decision of deciding whether to pull their children out of in-person learning or risk severe reactions or death as a result of COVID-19.” This is a “brutal choice,” the lawsuit reads. 

“Excluding children from the public school classrooms because of a disability is precisely the type of discrimination and segregation that the ADA and its amendments aim to prevent and specifically prohibit,” the lawsuit reads. 

The plaintiffs are asking the court to block the governor from enforcing Executive Order No. 84, while requiring Shelby County to enforce the countywide mask mandate in schools. 

Read the full complaint here

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Heavy Rain, Winds Expected to Hit Memphis

Source: National Weather Service

Memphis could get up to six inches of rain and heavy winds as the remnants of Hurricane Ida move through the Mid-South Monday.

The rainfall and winds are expected to begin at 3 p.m. Monday and last through the evening, according to the Memphis National Weather Service. 

Memphis Light, Gas and Water (MLGW) said its crews are prepared to respond to any damage and outages. However, the utility said that restoration times may be longer due to Covid-19 safety measures. 

MLGW also advises the public to avoid contact with downed power lines as the lines could still be active. To report an emergency such as downed wires or gas leaks, call 901-528-4465. For outage reporting, call 901-544-6500. 

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Family of Alvin Motley Jr. Calls for Public Release of Shooting Footage

An activist sings over megaphone. (Credit: Maya Smith).

A crowd shut down an East Memphis Kroger fuel station Thursday calling for justice for Alvin Motley Jr. who was shot and killed by a security guard there earlier this month. 

Activists, attorneys, and family members rallied in the gas station’s parking lot near Kirby and Poplar. 

“This gas station is closed for business,” activist LJ Abraham, shouted on a megaphone. “If you buy gas here today, you support racism.”

Activist LJ Abraham urges customers not to use Kroger gas pumps. (Credit: Maya Smith).

Abraham said Kroger is limiting the information they are providing and has not taken responsibility for its role in Motley’s killing. 

“They hired the security firm, therefore they hold some responsibility in the killing of Mr. Motley, but they will not speak to that,” Abraham said. “The least they can do is come out and offer a sincere apology. But then what else can they do moving forward to take care of this family?”

Others parked their cars at the fuel station, playing music from their speakers. Cardboard signs reading “Music for Motley” were displayed in windshields. 

Rally-goers used orange traffic cones to stop customers from entering the gas station. 

Pastor Peris Lester said Motley was killed for loud music, but “today we are calling for louder justice.” 

Carl Adams, Motley’s cousin, said what happened to Motley was a “cold-blooded murder.”

Motley’s cousin, Cara Adams, demands justice. (Credit: Maya Smith)

Dr. Robert Motley Jr., another cousin of Motley, said there needs to be policies in place so that other families “don’t have to suffer the way we have suffered.”

Motley was allegedly fatally shot by former Horn Lake police officer Gregory Livingston following a verbal altercation over loud music, police say. Livingston was charged with second degree murder and is currently in jail on a $1.8 million bond. 

Nashville District Attorney General Glenn Funk was appointed special prosecutor in the case. 

Kroger has since cut ties with Allied Universal Security, the third-party company for which Livingston worked. 

Earlier Thursday a memorial service was held for Motley at Mt. Olive Cathedral CME Church. Civil rights attorney Ben Crump, who is representing the Motley family, called for the footage of Motley’s shooting to be released to the public. 

“When it’s a Black person lying dead on the ground and it’s a white person that killed him, we start getting all these reasons why we can’t be transparent,” Crump said. 

The footage was shown to the Motley family and attorneys Thursday morning, but Crump said there is no justification for it not to be released publicly.

“It is heart wrenching when you watch how unnecessary, how unjustifiable, and how shocking it was that this Allied Security guard shot this unarmed Black man who had a can of beer in his hand and a cigarette in the other,” Crump said. “What could be so dangerous about a Black man holding a beer can and taking a puff of a cigarette?”

Crump said there was no reason for Motley to be killed. 

“What is it about Black men that is so fearful to white America that they shoot first and ask questions later?” Crump said. “We have to continue to push for transformative justice. And the only way to get transformative justice is to have truth and transparency.”

Members of Motley’s family also urged for the video to be released. Cara Adams, Motley’s cousin, called Motley’s shooting “the worst act of white terrorism against a Black life that I have ever seen” after watching the video. 

“Situations like that are a modernized version of white terrorists who would go and lynch a Black man on the street,” Adams said. “It’s that same disdain, same distaste, same hate that’s deep-rooted in this country in a very systemic and systematic way.” 

Cars playing music filled the gas station’s parking lot. (Credit: Maya Smith)

Adams said through tears when the video is released, people will be able to feel “how little a Black life matters in this country.”

“The video really affirmed to me that in this country it’s a crime to be a Black man or a Black woman,” Adams said. 

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A State Law Limits Virtual Learning Options for SCS Students

Memphis-Shelby County Schools Superintendent Joris Ray (Credit: Shelby County Schools/Facebook).

As the number of Covid-19 cases increase in Shelby County and Tennessee, some parents want a virtual learning option for students. 

But a Tennessee Department of Education (TDOE) rule stands in the way of Shelby County Schools (SCS) offering all students virtual learning options. 

The rule passed in April lays four conditions that must be met for districts to implement a Continuous Learning Plan (CLP). 

The first is that the governor has declared a state of emergency or disaster. Additionally, the emergency or disaster must disrupt the traditional operations of the school district. School districts must also provide notice to the TDOE justificating the implementation. Finally, the TDOE must approve the district’s request. 

SCS superintendent Joris Ray said Tuesday that the district “must comply with the law as we continue to push legislators to allow local control.”

Currently, the only virtual learning option for SCS students is through the Memphis Virtual School, which is open to grades 4-12 and not associated with any one school in the district. However, the application period to enroll in the virtual school has ended for this school year.

The school offers asynchronous instruction with no live teacher. The TDOE rule doesn’t allow live synchronous learning, Ray said. 

“It’s not a choice of this superintendent or this school board,” Ray said. “We’re just trying to arm this community with facts.” 

As SCS explores ways to petition the state to allow the implementation of CLP, Ray encourages parents to share concerns about in-person learning with Tennessee lawmakers. 

Gov. Bill Lee said Tuesday that he does not want students to go back to virtual learning and the state has no plans of changing the rule passed in April. 

“Currently, there’s no plan that allows them to go back to virtual learning so we’ll take that one step at a time, but our hope is that we won’t move in that direction,” Lee said. 

As of last week, 449 Covid-19 cases have been reported among SCS students and teachers, according to a new dashboard launched by the district Tuesday. 

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Nonprofit Prepares to Assist Afghan Families Arriving in Memphis

U.S. Army Soldiers serve a meal to Afghan Special Immigrants. (Photo: Department of Defense)

World Relief Memphis, a nonprofit that serves newly arrived refugees here, is gearing up to assist Afghan refugees resettling in Memphis.

As Afghan families flee their country following the Taliban takeover, PJ Moore, executive director of World Relief Memphis said he anticipates a number will be coming in Memphis. 

“As a community we have to be educated and able to receive these families well,” Moore said. “Memphis is a city known for Southern hospitality. We have a long history of welcoming people from all over the world and now we have an opportunity to make a difference in the lives of those who are fleeing horrific circumstances.”

World Relief Memphis is the only resettlement agency in the city and is a part of a larger global organization that operates in nine countries and 20 U.S. cities. 

World Relief officials are currently working with the U.S. State Department to process Afghan evacuees arriving in Virginia, Wisconsin, and Texas. 

Because of World Relief Memphis’ previously existing contract with the State Department to work with refugees, Moore said he anticipates the organization will facilitate the resettlement of a number of Afghan families with Special Immigrant Visas (SIV) here in the coming months. SIV holders are those whose lives are threatened as a result of their service to the U.S. military. 

Moore said there are currently two families confirmed to be coming, but he doesn’t know the exact number of additional families that will be coming or when they will arrive. 

But when they do, World Relief is preparing to offer families help integrating into the community, by assisting with finding housing and jobs, learning English, and navigating a new culture.

Housing will be a key need for arriving families. World Relief Memphis is currently looking for partners, such as apartment complex owners and private families to provide temporary and permanent housing.

Moore said the public can also help by advocating, donating money and household items, or volunteering. Volunteer opportunities range from doing office work to extending social and relational support to new families. 

The organization will hold a volunteer orientation Tuesday, August 24th, at 6:30 pm. More information about the orientation and how to sign up can be found here. 

“These are ordinary people like you and me that have undergone extraordinary circumstances,” Moore said. “They are incredibly resilient and they want the same things you and I want for their lives. They want peace, security, and hope for the future. These are the reasons they’ve fled the conflict and persecution.”

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Hospital ‘Bursting at Seams’ With Covid-19 Patients

Healthcare workers are “strained and stressed” as Covid-19 hospitalization numbers rise in Shelby County. 

That’s according to Kristen Bell, administrative director of nursing at Methodist Le Bonheur Germantown Hospital. Bell said usually summer is a time when there isn’t as much cold and virus activity, but Covid-19 hospitalizations here are peaking similar to winter numbers. 

A Methodist spokesperson said that as of Wednesday, 286 patients are hospitalized due to Covid-19 across its system here. That’s the highest number since the start of the pandemic. Of those patients, 73 are in the ICU. 

Bell said that Methodist Le Bonheur Germantown Hospital has needed to utilize its expansion department, its Covid-19 units are full, and the emergency department is “saturated.” Morale is down, according to Bell.

“It’s very much a capacity issue,” she said. “We are bursting at the seams. A bed isn’t clean for very long before we put someone else in it.”

Capacity isn’t the only concern, Bell said. The number of skilled workers able to provide specialized care to Covid-19 patients is also limited. 

“People aren’t coming to the hospital because they have a nose bleed or need stitches,” Bell said. “These people are really sick and need a higher level of care.”

Bell said in June she believed the worst part of the pandemic was over, with several days of single-digit Covid-19 hospitalizations. But a couple weeks after the Fourth of July, the numbers started to tick upward again. 

The only way to decrease the number of hospitalized cases is for more people to get vaccinated. The vast majority of patients hospitalized with Covid-19 are unvaccinated, Bell said. 

“A lot of our nurses are disappointed and frustrated that more people haven’t gotten vaccinated,” Bell said. “The vaccine is our secret weapon. It’s how we get out of this. Why would you not bring your weapon to battle?”

As healthcare workers, Bell said nurses want “nothing more than to heal people, but it’s very hard to heal people once they get this virus.” 

Mask Mandate

Emergency directors of Memphis hospital systems urged the city to reinstate a mask mandate in a letter Tuesday. 

The letter, read to the Memphis City Council by the city’s chief operating officer Doug McGowen, predicts a crisis for hospitals if Covid-19 cases continue to surge. 

The Covid-19 rate of hospitalizations is expected to double by the end of this month and increase six-fold by the end of September, McGowen said. 

“Failure to provide mitigation strategies at this point will be catastrophic to the Mid-South and will affect health care at every level,” the letter reads.

The Shelby County Commission voted Wednesday in favor of a new 30-day universal mask mandate and reinstituting six-foot social distancing indoors. 

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U of M Students Petition for Hybrid Classes

Students at the University of Memphis have started a petition to allow hybrid learning options for the 2021-2022 school year. 

Hybrid classes, which allow students to decide between in person and online lectures, are beneficial for mitigating the spread of Covid-19 and for disabled students, students say. 

“Students would not have to choose between their education and the health and safety of themselves or others,” the petition reads. “It is unreasonable to ask a student to risk their scholarships and stay home when sick with no protection against being penalized for absences.” 

Hybrid classes will also allow quarantining students to continue course work without falling behind, the petition adds. 

Some fall classes will be offered online, some will be in-person, and some hybrid. But not all classes will have an online or hybrid component. 

Tom Nenon, U of M’s provost and executive vice president for academic affairs, said Monday that “all courses for the fall semester will take place in the delivery format (online, on-ground, hybrid) that was published in the ‘Schedule of Classes.’ 

“Any changes your faculty member might consider must have prior written approval by the Dean and the Office of the Provost. To date, no such requests have been approved, so please plan to participate in the scheduled format.”

The petition calls for all classes to have a hybrid option, which it says won’t change anything for students who wish to attend classes in person, but will allow students to “prioritize their health over their GPA if they so desire.”

As a public university in Tennessee, the university is not able to require vaccines, according to U of M’s coronavirus communications page. However, the university is “strongly encouraging” students and staff to get vaccinated. Additionally, masks are required indoors and in places where social distancing is not possible on campus. But without a vaccination requirement and the rise of the Delta variant, students fear the return to campus will not be smooth. 

“While their optimism is admirable, it is unrealistic and unsustainable,” the petition reads. “The pandemic is no longer an unprecedented time. We are aware of what we are up against and it is an opportunity for us to take steps toward being a safer campus.”

The petition had 251 signatures as of Wednesday morning. 

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City Council Considers Minimum Wage Increase for PILOT Projects

A Memphis City Council committee discussed Tuesday raising the minimum pay for those working at companies incentivized to do business here.  

Councilmember Martavius Jones wants to raise the minimum hourly wage to $21 at businesses that receive pay in lieu of taxes (PILOT) incentives through the Economic Development Growth Engine (EDGE) for Memphis and Shelby County.

“This is not that I’m against incentives,” Jones said. “I know we have to play the game. This is about what we incentivize and what dollar amount we incentivize.”

Currently, the minimum wage requirement for PILOT projects is $13 an hour, which Jones said is less than a livable wage. 

PILOT projects give temporary tax abatements in return for a commitment to contracting local minority- or women-owned businesses, creating jobs, and making other community investments. 

To date, EDGE has incentivized 128 PILOT projects. Recipients include large companies such as ServiceMaster and Amazon to local companies, such as Hollywood Feed and Superlo. 

Reid Dulberger, president and CEO of EDGE said while he would like to see wages increased, the resolution “has the realistic probability of hurting the people we say we want to help.”

Dulberger said EDGE must compete with neighboring communities that offer tax abatements. 

“It’s a competitive world,” Dulberger said. “We have wage requirements now that our competitors don’t have. We have a health insurance requirement now that our competitors don’t have.”

These additional thresholds are good public policy, Dulberger said.  But if the standards are set too high, good public policy becomes “ineffective,” he said. 

Councilmember Worth Morgan opposed the resolution, saying that Memphis does not have the leverage to require more without incentivizing more. 

“It’s pretty clear that if this resolution were to pass, we would potentially lose out rather than gain more,” Morgan said. 

Councilmember Patrice Robsinson said if businesses don’t want to come here, “then so be it.”

“We want them to make an investment in us and we have an opportunity to make an investment in them,” Robinson said. 

Robinson suggests having a sliding scale, offering greater incentives for companies that pay higher wages. 

“We have got to be intentional about working on poverty in our community,” Robinson said. “If we reduce poverty, we reduce crime, we increase educational rates.”

Though the base pay requirement is $13, Dulberger said for projects approved in the last five years the average wage is $58,000.

If EDGE was to increase the base pay today based on the 2020 Shelby County annual average wage, Dulberger said it would only raise it to $15. 

Councilmember Cheyene Johnson proposed amending the resolution to allow companies to pay $21 an hour if they first receive city council approval. 

“At least people can come in and explain why they can’t pay $21 an hour,” Johnson said. “They may have a reasonable explanation for it.”

Dulberger said requiring companies to come before the council would be a “significant hurdle,” possibly costing Memphis a number of projects. 

“They don’t want to come before any public body,” Dulberger said. “They want to know if they’re getting an incentive or if they’re not getting an incentive. They prefer it all be done confidentially.” 

The council will return to the discussion at their next meeting on Tuesday, September, 7.

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Black County Commissioners Oppose Lee’s Order on Masks in Schools

Members of the Shelby County Commission Black Caucus spoke out Tuesday against Gov. Bill Lee’s executive order allowing parents to opt their children out of school mask mandates.

Commissioner Tami Sawyer said the group stands with the parents in Shelby County who are concerned with the “distasteful” executive order.

“Parents are reeling from this decision,” Sawyer said. Based on pictures she’s received of school hallways, she said it’s unlikely that students are social distancing between classes. With students able to opt out of wearing masks, Sawyer said there will be an even greater spread of the virus. 

“It gave me the heebie jeebies to think about how that’s going to work without masks,” Sawyer said. “It’s not just the kids and that’s the point that needs to be driven home. When you think about the economic crisis that Shelby County is in, a lot of children are being raised in multigenerational homes. So they are taking this virus to their ailing grandparents, to their mother who is then taking it to work, to their younger siblings taking the virus to middle school or kindergarten.” 

Sawyer also noted that the executive order is another example of the state undermining local government. The local government cannot make decisions for itself without fear of litigation or punitive measures by the state, Sawyer said. 

“That is not the way state and local governments are supposed to work together,” Sawyer said. “Whenever Shelby County makes a decision that’s best for them, we have to be afraid or concerned that the state is going to come back and reverse it or punish us because of our decision, especially when it comes to our children and education.”

Commissioner Mickell Lowery, who has two school-aged children, said protecting children should not be political. 

“It’s hard to tell children to stay separated and social distance when they’re just being kids,” Lowery said. “It affects all of us.”

Lowery added that the group supports any method, “by any means,” to keep children safe. 

Commissioner Reginald Milton said the executive order is using students as “political pawns.” 

“I will not play politics or games with their lives,” Milton said. “I ask all of you to stand with us and say ‘this is wrong and the governor is wrong.’”

With three children in school, Commissioner Van Turner said as a parent, “it’s nerve wracking.” 

“I think parents have rights, but they don’t have rights to endanger the lives of other children in other households,” Turner said. “If that’s the case, why don’t we allow children to smoke at school. Here we are dealing with real life situations where people are passing and the governor is doing something opposite of what’s going to protect our young people.

Turner said the group supports all efforts to pursue legal action against the executive order. 

Shelby County Schools superintendent Joris Ray said Monday that he, along with the SCS board members and its general counsel, are reviewing the legalities of the executive order. In the meantime, he reiterated that masks are still required for all school employees, students, and visitors. 

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Parents Can Now Opt Child Out of School Mask Mandate

Parents in Tennessee will now be able to decide if their child wears a mask to school, regardless of their districts’ guidelines, after Gov. Bill Lee signed an executive order Monday. 

“A student’s parent or guardian shall have the right to opt out of any order or requirement for a student in Kindergarten through 12th grade to wear a face covering at school, on a school bus, or at a school function,” the order reads. 

Parents who want to opt their child out of the mandate must notify the local school district or school personnel, according to the order.  

“No one cares more about the health and well-being of a child than a parent,” Lee tweeted. “Districts will make the decisions they believe are best for their students, but parents are the authority and ultimate decision-makers for their individual child’s health and well-being.”

Lee also announced that he will not be calling a special legislative session to address school mask mandates across the state, as requested by Republican members of the Tennessee General Assembly last week. 

In a statement, Lee acknowledged that hospitals are “struggling under the weight of COVID,”  but that those hospitals are filled with adults. 

“Requiring parents to make their children wear masks to solve an adult problem is in my view wrong,” Lee said. 

According to the Tennessee Department of Health, there were 43 pediatric patients hospitalized due to Covid-19 as of Sunday. Of those patients, 16 were in the ICU and eight were on ventilators.

Memphis-area legislators were quick to speak out against the executive order. Rep. Antonio Parkinson called the order “irresponsible.” 

“The goal is to stop the spread of the virus in Tennessee,” Parkinson said. “The executive order in no way will curb the spread of the virus. As a matter of fact, it may accelerate the spread of Covid-19 in our state.”

Senator Raumesh Akbari said of the executive order that she “could not disagree with this more.”

“Hospitals across Tennessee are at or near capacity,” Akbari tweeted. “Some hospitals’ pediatric cases doubled in the course of a week. Masks are such a little thing that can protect our kids and teachers. Kids can’t get vaccinated and should be protected at all costs.” 

Rep. London Lamar tweeted that she is “so scared” the decision will lead to more pediatric Covid-19 cases.