DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – A federal judge on Monday ordered the state of Iowa to immediately stop enforcing a law that prevents school boards from ordering the use of masks to prevent the spread of COVID- 19.
Judge Robert Pratt said in an order signed Monday that the law passed in May substantially increases the risk of contracting COVID-19 from several children with health conditions.
Pratt said he has analyzed data on the effectiveness of masks in reducing the spread of the virus and agrees with the recommendations of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the American Academy of Pediatrics on the use of masks in schools.
“Because the plaintiffs have shown that the prohibition of section 280.31 of the Iowa Code on mask warrants in schools substantially increases the risk of contracting the virus that causes COVID-19 and that, due to its various medical conditions, they have an increased risk of serious illness or death, Plaintiffs have shown that irreparable damage exists, “he wrote.
His order said Gov. Kim Reynolds and Iowa Department of Education principal Ann Lebo cannot enforce the new law that prohibits local school districts from using their discretion to force masks on students. staff, teachers and visitors.
It issued a temporary restraining order for it to take effect immediately. It will remain in effect until the court issues a precautionary order.
Eleven parents and The Arc of Iowa, a group that advocates for the civil rights of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, denounced the state on Sept. 3.
The dispute is one of several that is taking place in school districts across the country, where parents, school administrators and health officials are fighting for the application of mask protocols. The U.S. Department of Education has opened civil rights investigations in five Republican-led states, including Iowa, that have banned or limited mask requirements in schools.
Reynolds said in a statement that the judge “unilaterally overturned a state law, ignored the decision of our elected legislature and removed the ability of parents to decide what is best for their child.”
He said the state will appeal and “exercise all the legal options we have to defend state law and defend the rights and freedoms granted to any American citizen protected by our constitution.”
Hours after the decision was announced, Des Moines superintendent of public schools Thomas Ahart said he would restore a mask warrant for all students, staff and visitors to the district’s schools starting Wednesday. Des Moines schools are the largest district in the state with about 33,000 students.
A spokeswoman for the Iowa City School District said the school board will meet Tuesday to consider its options. Superintendent Matt Degner sent a message to the families in the district saying “we strongly encourage all students and staff to wear a mask to school tomorrow as we anticipate that the district will implement a mask requirement for all people in school buildings “.
Pratt noted that nearly 40 years have passed since the U.S. Supreme Court recognized that, regardless of citizenship status, denying school-age children free public education violates the U.S. Constitution.
He said parents “want Iowa’s school districts to have the opportunity to comply with federal law and ensure that every child receives an education in a less restrictive and more integrated environment, without endangering their lives or their lives. security “.
“The ban on the Iowa mask mandate makes it not only dangerous to attend school for disabled or immunocompromised children, but several pediatricians believe it is also dangerous for healthy siblings to attend school in person, as who run the risk of carrying the virus to their disabled or immunocompromised siblings. ” Said Pratt.
He said the AAP has registered about 3,500 new cases of COVID-19 among Iowa school-age children since July and that some Iowa public schools experience COVID-19 infection rates in excess of 60% of the total. from last year throughout the school year.
In the latest state public health update, children 17 years of age and younger accounted for 29% of new coronavirus cases in Iowa. Fifteen children under the age of 17 were hospitalized with COVID-19, including 12 children under the age of 11.
Lebo has said districts that break the law will be referred to the State Board of Education and funding will be lost.
Pratt also points out that the parents’ motion to stop law enforcement comes under investigation by the U.S. Department of Education on whether the Iowa mask mandate ban violates the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Rehabilitation Act discriminating against school-age children with disabilities.
The parents in the lawsuit allege similar violations of federal law. They claim that face-to-face learning is essential and point out that Lebo stressed in January 2021 that a return to face-to-face learning is necessary, as “distance learning students are lagging behind academically”.
The parents of these children “therefore regret the choice of having to send their children to school in person with the rest of the children of their age without a mask warrant or swallowing the minor option. which are not always available: remote learning “. Said Pratt.
He concluded that the law appears to conflict with the ADA and the Rehabilitation Act “because it excludes the participation of disabled children and denies them the benefits of the programs, services and activities of the public schools to which they are entitled.”