South Carolina is now the subject of a federal lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) on Tuesday, which claimed that the state’s ban on wearing masks in schools excludes disabled and other disadvantaged students from public schools.beside Texas with Florida, South Carolina is the latest state to engage in a legal battle for banning school masks.
The new lawsuit claims that a ban on wearing masks in schools puts students with underlying health conditions or disabilities – who are more likely to get serious illnesses from COVID-19 – at risk.
In June, South Carolina lawmakers promoted a clause through the state’s general budget that prohibits school districts from using state funds to make mask regulations. Some areas violated this rule on the grounds of the safety of employees and students.
“By making schools a dangerous place for these disabled students, they are essentially forcing parents to choose between their children’s education and their children’s health,” said Susan Mizner, director of the American Civil Liberties Union’s Disability Rights Program. “This will exclude them from public education.”
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The plaintiff claimed in the lawsuit that the prohibition of wearing masks violated the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Rehabilitation Act.
According to the ADA and the Rehabilitation Act, public schools cannot exclude students with disabilities or unnecessarily isolate them from their peers. Schools also need to provide reasonable modifications to allow students with disabilities to fully participate.
Mizner said that providing remote options for students with disabilities or medical conditions is not a good option. She said that restricting frail students and people with disabilities to distance education deprived them of equal opportunities.
She said: “We have learned from the past year that for many, many, and many students, distance education and face-to-face education are not equal.” “That will deprive them of equal access to education.”
The lawsuit appoints senior state officials including Republican Governor Henry McMaster, the attorney general and the head of the school, and seeks to overturn the law prohibiting the wearing of masks.
Amanda McDougald Scott is one of the nine plaintiffs in the lawsuit. She has a 5-year-old son with asthma who is too young to be vaccinated. The family was told that online learning for the new school year was full, causing them to register at a private school 30 minutes away.
Another plaintiff, Samantha Boevers, had an elementary school child with autism spectrum disorder, which made it difficult for her son to comply with COVID-19 mitigation measures, such as washing hands and maintaining social distancing. The lawsuit alleges that the family’s pediatrician advised them to let their son study face-to-face only in a completely masked environment.
The lawsuit from the American Civil Liberties Union is not the first time that South Carolina’s ban on wearing masks has ended in court. Earlier, the state attorney general Alan Wilson sued the city of Columbia, which required schools to wear masks after declaring a state of emergency for COVID-19.
The current guidance of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that everyone in the school building, whether vaccinated or not, wear a mask indoors. Public health officials have pleaded with the governor and lawmakers to lift the ban on wearing masks.
In a video released by his office on Friday, McMaster said that he believes the decision to wear a mask should be left to his parents.
McMaster said: “It is a serious mistake to suggest that bureaucrats in Washington should tell their parents that they must go against the wishes and wisdom of their parents and force their children to wear masks at school.” “I believe this is wrong.”
Critics who oppose listening to parents’ personal choices on face masks say that letting some people in school buildings not wear masks endangers those around them. McMaster urged South Carolina people to get the COVID-19 vaccine, but children under 12 are not yet eligible.
On Wednesday, the President Joe Biden Guidance Education Secretary Miguel Cardona Explore possible legal actions through the Civil Rights Department of the Department of Education to target states that prevent school masks and other public health measures designed to reduce the risk of COVID-19.
Similar to the American Civil Liberties Union’s lawsuit, the Department of Education stated that a policy that prohibits wearing masks may be regarded as discrimination if it results in unsafe conditions preventing students from going to school.
South Carolina is one of seven states that have implemented a mask ban. The other six are Florida, Texas, Utah, Tennessee, Oklahoma and Iowa. Arizona’s ban on wearing masks took effect on September 29.
