The Knox County School Board is voting tonight to respond to Plaintiff’s latest request to the Federal Court about the districts enforcement of the mask mandate. In Monday’s work session, comments by board members were made that the latest variant is reducing. All this at about the same time that a second grade student at Rocky Hill Elementary School lost her life due to the pandemic and some mitigating conditions, read the KnoxNews story about 7 year old Adalyn Rita Graves, here.
photo from KnoxNews that was supplied to the paper by Adalyn’s mother
As this story of the loss of this daughter, sister, classmate, Knox County Mayor Glenn Jacobs sent out a post, tweet that I am sure he didn’t consider the timing of such a post in spite of the circumstances of Adalyn’s passing.
screenshot from a 2/8/2022 post by Mayor Jacobs.
Dominique Oakley, Knox County School Board Independent candidate for District Seven, is the only candidate to issue a statement about Knox County’s loss of Adalyn at this time.
Mourning the loss of Adalyn Graviss
My heart aches today after the news of the loss of Adalyn Graviss, the 7-year-old daughter of Jennifer and Adam Graviss. No parent should ever endure the loss of their child. My daughter passed away over 14 years ago, and I know all too well the pain of losing a child. My thoughts and prayers go out to their entire family in this time of intense grief.
Losing a child leaves a gap that never, ever goes away. I cannot imagine the frustration and hurt that goes with losing a child suddenly due to COVID in particular. I grieve for the students and teachers who have lost a classmate, the community surrounding the Graviss family, the days-old baby sister who will never know her big sister now. My twin boys never knew their sister, but they think of her as a guardian angel, and I hope that the baby Ella Graviss will find comfort knowing her sweet sister is watching out for her from above.
There is a temptation when a death like this occurs to look for people to blame. I’m not here for that, but I am here to call for continued vigilance in the face of this invisible enemy. COVID is not gone. Children are not immune. Masks are not the biggest problem: Death is. Even one child is one too many. Until we have eradicated COVID, similar to smallpox, we must remain vigilant to protect our future.
We cannot undo what has been done. However, I do believe that as custodians of over 60,000 children in Knox County, the Board of Education has a tremendous opportunity to step up and protect our children as they did in 2020. Doubling down on lawsuits and risking further mandates from a federal judge only puts more children in harm’s way. Adalyn didn’t have to die, but please do not let her death be in vain. Let us learn from this tragedy and protect all children with better leadership.
