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DES MOINES – Lawyer representing Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds in a federal lawsuit over compulsory use of masks in schools has asked the judge to authorize a temporary order that allowed schools to implement the warrants of masks expire next week, citing testimonials from school-aged mothers who make unproven claims that masks can harm children.
In documents released on Monday, the state provided testimony from three women who said their children had medical issues that made it difficult for them to wear masks. This included a mother from Ankeny who said her son had asthma and when he wore a mask he “Not getting enough clean oxygen and constantly breathing germs” a claim not supported by science.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the American Academy of Pediatrics recommend masks be worn in schools because the variant of the delta coronavirus is spreading rapidly across much of the country. The Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America said asthmatics should wear masks.
Ankeny’s wife also said her son is immunodeficient, but she believes it is in his best interests to go to school without wearing a mask while he washes his hands and takes other health precautions. normal health. It would also be contrary to current medical advice.
Two other women, one from Urbandale and another from Ankeny, said they feared the masks could hinder their children’s ability to learn. One of them said that a universal mask warrant would prevent their “Ability to understand their teachers and interact with their peers, which negatively affects their learning”. The other said she could remove her child from Ankeny school and seek education elsewhere or apply for a mask exemption.
Schools requiring masks often allow exemptions for certain medical conditions or religious or philosophical objections.
After Judge Robert Pratt issued a restraining order last week banning Reynolds and Iowa Department of Education director Ann Lebo from applying the law Reynolds signed in May, at least 17 councils schools have put in place mask mandates and several others were considering it. This included some of the larger districts including Des Moines, West Des Moines, Iowa City, Cedar Rapids, and Davenport.
Pratt’s restraining order is in effect until September 27. He said he was considering a temporary injunction that will continue to bar Reynolds and Lebo from enforcing the law until a lawsuit can be heard. Reynolds said she would appeal Pratt’s decision. The appeal would be heard by the 8th United States Court of Appeals.
Eleven Parents and The Arc of Iowa, a group that advocates for the civil rights of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, sued the state on September 3. They claimed the law conflicted with the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Rehabilitation Act. Pratt agreed, saying “It excludes children with disabilities from participation and denies them the benefits of public school programs, services and activities to which they are entitled.”
Pratt concluded that the mask ban makes it unsafe for disabled or immunocompromised children to go to school and unsafe for healthy siblings to attend school in person, as they risk bringing back the viruses to their disabled or immunocompromised siblings.
The dispute is one of many unfolding in school districts across the country, where parents, school administrators and health officials are fighting over the application of mask protocols. The US Department of Education has opened civil rights investigations in five Republican-led states, including Iowa, which have banned or limited mask requirements in schools.
Reynolds’ attorney in this case is Sam Langholz, former attorney for Governor Kim Reynolds who was hired as deputy attorney general last November. He argued in court documents that the law preventing school boards from implementing mask requirements is neutral and non-discriminatory state policy and that masks mandates “Are not a reasonable modification of this policy as it would place an undue burden, fundamentally alter the nature of the state’s educational program and infringe the rights of others.”
Nowhere in the documents does the state recognize, as Pratt pointed out in his order, that there have been approximately 3,500 new cases of COVID-19 among school-aged children in Iowa since July. , according to the American Academy of Pediatrics.
In the state’s latest public health update, children aged 17 and under accounted for 29% of new coronavirus cases in Iowa. Fifteen children under the age of 17 have been hospitalized with COVID-19, including 12 under the age of 11.
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