Tennessee is yet another Republican-run state mismanaging the pandemic on an epic and deadly scale. Under Gov. Bill Lee, parents can choose to opt out of any school district's mask mandate if they so wish, thereby rendering such mandates rather useless and helping spread COVID in schools. His decision has had disastrous consequences.
Source: Tennessee Lookout
Just before she went to bed on Tuesday, Tennessee Education Association president Beth Brown got word of yet another public school teacher who died this week as a result of COVID-19. Brown returned to what has now become a painful but familiar ritual since the pandemic first began.
“One of the very last things I did last night was write a note of sympathy,” Brown said Wednesday. “Unless we get more mitigation measures in place, this is going to keep happening.”
At least eight Tennessee public school employees – three elementary school teachers, one pre-k assistant, a cafeteria worker, a bus driver and two high school teachers – have died since the school year began after contracting COVID-19. The total is an imperfect tally of a grim statistic that no one government agency or private entity is currently monitoring in a systematic way.
According to the Leaf-Chronicle, both women pictured above had been teachers for over twenty years and were fixtures in their communities. It's unclear if either were vaccinated.
Clarksville is mourning the loss of two longtime educators this week.
Former Clarksville-Montgomery County Schools teacher Angela Klosterman died from COVID-19 complications on Sunday at Tennova Healthcare, according to her family.
Klosterman taught in the local district for 27 years.
She was 50 and lived in Clarksville.
CMCSS also confirmed that 20-year Woodlawn educator Christie Litchfield also died this week, on Monday. The Leaf-Chronicle reached out to Litchfield's family, who requested privacy. Litchfield's cause of death was not immediately released.
Angela Klosterman's funeral is today in Bowling Green.
So this is what happens when you open schools with zero COVID safety protocols https://t.co/mruqTJS9y1
— Wu-Tang Is For The Children (@WUTangKids) September 9, 2021
In CHEATHAM COUNTY, it seems yet another teacher - Angela Klosterman - has died tragically of COVID.
Far too many Tennessee educators have been lost to this disease, while far too little is done. @GovBillLee has not mentioned any of them. 😷 pic.twitter.com/mmjopaFOkN— The Tennessee Holler (@TheTNHoller) September 6, 2021
