Who is advising Metro Schools on COVID-19 restrictions? Critics take issue with plans

UPDATE (Nov. 25): Metro Nashville Public Schools has launched a brand new COVID-19 tracker online tool for parents, students, and the community to keep tabs on the spread of coronavirus. For more information, CLICK HERE.

---

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WZTV) -- As Metro Public Schools decide to go back to all virtual school, many parents are beside themselves. Critics say MNPS clearly doesn’t have a concrete plan and is making decisions based on opinion and case numbers rather than science and data.

On June 3rd, Metro Schools published a 33-page plan for reopening, a blue ribbon committee laid out in great detail how schools would reopen carefully and responsibly when the city moved into Phase 3.

But that plan was changed. When the city went into Phase 3 reopening the school opening plan was replaced by a new plan that would phase students in by grade level from October to January. Then that plan was changed, delayed with no new timeline. And now the latest no more in-person school until at least next semester. The reason? Rising cases.

Who are the health experts on these new plans? That is surprisingly, a mystery. If you ask MNPS for the names of medical advisors, Dr. Adrienne Battle will name only one Dr. Alex Jahangir.

But Dr. Jahangir appears to have recently wrote Nicole Corey a nurse and member of “Let Nashville Parents Choose” stating he is not an MNPS advisor.

“We do not know who is specifically advising them, the one name that has been given is Dr. Jahangir. They won’t give us any other names, so either they are making their own rules as they go which is so sad in a town that has such great intelligent physicians," said Corey.

I asked Metro Schools Director Dr. Adrienne Battle for specific names of medical advisors, she named just one: Dr. Alex Jahangir.

Well what is it? And if Dr. Jahangir is advising Metro Schools, and Metro Schools are closed , it is fair to point out his own children are in face to face school?

“Well, as far as that, I don’t like to talk about my family, but I am comfortable with what that school is doing," Dr. Jahangir said. "I am providing data for Metro Schools. I am not advising."

Which brings us back to the question - Who is?

Its not the nation’s top infectious diseases doctor.

Anthony Fauci says, “The default position should be to try as best as you possibly can to open up the schools for in-person learning.”

It's not the top man at the CDC.

“The truth is, for kids K through 12, one of the safest places they can be from our perspective is to remain in school. We can’t afford a lost COVID-19 generation," said CDC director Robert Redfield.

Metro Schools told me they are generally sticking to the plan but have adjusted as new information comes in. A school spokesman said that the Mayor’s Road Map and Phase 3 has altered and so MNPS is no longer following it. Also, that Dr. Battle is the architect of the plan along with leadership and support staff, and yes, the high cases are also driving decisions.

Nashville for Rational COVID-19 Policy’s Matt Malkus commented, "It’s not at the behest of Anthony Fauci, not at the behest of the CDC. It's really this kind of a weird issue that everyone who is making decisions at the local level is at odds with the science and with the broader data at the national and international level. It’s all focused on the number of cases, cases, cases, cases ... just a narrow focus, ignoring that we are doing substantial damage out there."

Malkus says the data and science nationally and internationally show that schools are not super-spreader environments, and guess who appears to agree-MNPS schools, here’s the latest letter to parents from Dr. Battle.

“While we’ve logged 347 positive cases between October 11th and November 15th. Nearly all the cases have been contracted outside of the classroom or school,” wrote Dr. Battle.

And if that is the case, why is the answer locking up the schools? Metro Schools are now all virtual until at least January.