The showdown over mask mandates in America’s schools has prompted officials in some states to find creative ways to skirt the bans put in place by Republican governors.
Of the 100 largest school districts in the country, all are fully reopening within the next few weeks. Fifty-three percent require students to wear masks, a sharp increase as cases of COVID-19 surge and concerns over the hyper-contagious delta variant grow.
Despite the numbers, there are bans against mask mandates in nearly a half dozen states.
In some, governors have threatened to withhold funding from localities that implement mask mandates.
CONTROVERSY SURROUNDS EIGHT STATES THAT PROHIBIT SCHOOL MASK MANDATES
Arizona’s Gov. Doug Ducey ruffled feathers when he announced that districts with school mask mandates wouldn’t be eligible for a $163 million school grant program. In Florida, which leads the nation in coronavirus hospitalizations, Gov. Ron DeSantis floated a similar move. Texas’s Gov. Greg Abbott, who recently contracted the coronavirus himself, also issued a ban on mask mandates — but late last week, the Texas Education Agency said enforcement of the ban had been dropped.
Citing court challenges, the TEA said further guidance would be issued after the court cases are resolved.
One school district in northeast Texas wasn’t taking any chances and found a creative way to get around Abbott’s directive. The Paris Independent School District decided to require masks as part of its updated dress code.
The Paris ISD board of trustees said in a statement that it believes the “dress code can be used to mitigate communicable health issues” and amended it to protect students and employees as cases of COVID-19 continue to slam the Lone Star state.
“The Texas Governor does not have the authority to usurp the Board of Trustees’ exclusive power and duty to govern and oversee the management of the public schools of the district,” the Paris ISD said. “Nothing in the Governor’s Executive Order 38 states he has suspended Chapter 11 of the Texas Education Code, and therefore the Board has elected to amend its dress code consistent with its statutory authority.”
The board made its decision following an emergency meeting with parents, district employees, and local doctors. The changes to the dress code are not permanent and will be revisited monthly.
News of the amended dress code came as Texas hospitals reported a shortage of ICU beds, and health officials said the state is on track to reach its most dangerous phase yet, the Texas Tribune reported.
“We are entering the worst surge in sheer numbers,” said Dr. Mark Casanova, a member of the Texas Medical Association’s COVID-19 Task Force. “This is the fourth round of what should have been a three-round fight. We do have very sincere concerns that the numbers game is going to overwhelm us.”
SCIENCE BEHIND MASKING IN SCHOOLS UNDER DEBATE
Earlier this year, Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt signed a law that largely prevented school boards from mandating masks or vaccinations. That wasn’t a problem for several schools in the state that have openly defied his ban by going around school boards by sending parents letters directly to inform them their children need to mask up or stay home.
Superintendent Sean McDaniel said the law to ban the mandate only prevented a school board from making that decision but added that “the law does not prohibit the Superintendent and district administration from requiring the wearing of masks by our students, staff, and visitors.”
Parents are allowed to request medical or religious exemptions. So far, only 94 out of 30,000 students have opted out, according to the Oklahoma City Public Schools.
In a recent interview with the local channel Fox25, Stitt said, “Oklahomans believe that parents should make the choice for their kid’s health, not the government. I’m always going to side with parent’s choice.”
In Arizona, one school district kept their mask mandate despite a law signed by the governor this year prohibiting school boards from requiring them through a little legal jiu-jitsu.
Earlier this month, a Maricopa County Superior Court judge ruled the law banning mask mandates does not take effect until 90 days after the legislative session ends, effectively buying the Phoenix Union High School District more mask time.
The ruling came out of a lawsuit against the district by a high school science teacher who claimed Phoenix Union’s governing board lacked the legal authority to require masks. The school district’s attorney argued that despite a retroactivity clause in the bill dated June 30, policy components of appropriations bills go into effect 90 days after the session ends. For bills to go into effect immediately, lawmakers need to pass an emergency clause, which they failed to do in this case.
However, the judge did give the science teacher some time to amend his filing.
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In Florida, the Duval County Public School Board found a loophole in DeSanits’s ban by approving an amendment to its Student Code of Conduct that requires students to wear masks unless parents submit paperwork to opt out. Florida is leading the country in COVID-19 hospitalizations.
Alachua County has also decided to defy DeSantis. The Alachua County board said it has voted to require masks for the first two weeks of school and would reevaluate its decision in two weeks.
