The Department’s Civil Rights Office sent letters to top officials of state schools in five states (Iowa, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee and Utah), notifying them of new investigations into whether these state mask restrictions prevent students with disabilities “safely” return to face-to-face education, in violation of federal law. ”
Opening this type of investigation, the department said it “does not imply that OCR has decided whether there has been a violation of a law that OCR applies.”
Investigations have not yet been opened in Florida, Texas, Arkansas or Arizona “because the prohibitions of these states on universal interior masking are not being applied as a result of court orders or other state actions,” he also noted. the agency in its statement, adding that “the Department will continue to closely monitor these states and is willing to take action if state leaders prevent local schools or districts from implementing universal masks in schools or if current court decisions are reversed. “.
“The Department has received news from parents across the country, particularly parents of students with disabilities and underlying medical illnesses, about how state bans on universal indoor masking put their children at risk and prevent equal access to face-to-face learning, “Cardona said in a statement on Monday. “It is simply unacceptable for state leaders to be putting policy on the health and education of students they swore to. The Department will fight to protect the right of all students to access face-to-face learning safely and local educators ’rights put in place policies that allow all students to return to the classroom full-time safely in person this fall.”
In letters to the five states, OCR also indicated that restrictions on school masks in those states “may prevent schools from fulfilling their legal obligations not to discriminate on the basis of disability and provide equal educational opportunities to students with disabilities at risk. severe COVID-19 disease. ”