DA won't prosecute for governor's student mask opt-out order

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — An order by the Tennessee governor letting parents opt their children out of following mask rules at school has drawn defiance from officials in Memphis and Nashville, including a pledge Tuesday from Nashville's district attorney not to prosecute teachers and school officials for flouting the carveout during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Not long after Republican Gov. Bill Lee's directive came down Monday, officials with Metro Nashville Public Schools and Shelby County Schools in the Memphis area pledged to keep enforcing their school mask requirements for students and others just as they have been. The resistance in the face of rising COVID-19 cases coincides with fights in states like Florida, where some districts are requiring masks despite a ban by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis.

Nashville District Attorney Glenn Funk offered his assurance to a school board member who noted that Tennessee law includes a Class A misdemeanor — punishable by up to a year in jail — for “any person or representative thereof violating any order, rule or regulation” under an emergency declaration, like the one in place for the COVID-19 pandemic.

“The question is whether you, as the District Attorney for the 20th judicial district of the state of Tennessee, will be initiating any criminal or other proceedings against teachers, staff, or board members for continuing to require masks or facial coverings in school buildings during the school day, on a school bus, or at school functions?” school board member Emily Masters wrote Tuesday.

“I will not prosecute school officials or teachers for keeping children safe,” Funk responded.

The governor had been facing a push by House Republican lawmakers for a special lawmaking session that sought broader consideration of how to limit...