Knoxville Hospital & Clinics and Knoxville Community Schools released a joint statement Monday. The statement aimed to address recent questions on the transparency of COVID-19 cases within the school district. The statement said that businesses and government entities are not required to release potentially identifying information about individuals’ health, and that schools should not be the exception. Knoxville Schools Superintendent Cassi Pearson explains that if the district released detailed information about positive COVID-19 cases, people could easily identify who the positive cases could be.

“If the county couldn’t identify what city somebody lived in, I don’t think it’s in the best practice to actually identify a number in a school building that has as few as 250 students, and we’re talking children. It’s very easy for people to figure out who that positive case could be. We have a legal responsibility to keep the health conditions of both our staff and students confidential. That is part of the rights and the laws. It’s a very fine balance of providing the information people would like to know and having a desire to know, and making sure that we are being responsible with confidential information at the same time.”

The statement also said that school district leaders will continue to monitor two metrics: the percentage of positive cases in the county, and the number of students who are absent due to illness.

The complete statement can be found here.