The Education Department, announced, on Monday that it has opened Civil Rights Investigations into Five Statewide Bans on Mask Mandates to determine whether they Discriminate against Students with Disabilities.
The Department’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) sent Letters to School Officials in: Iowa, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Utah, describing how Bans on Universal Mask requirements could Prevent Schools from Implementing Policies that Protect Students from COVID-19, particularly those with Underlying Medical Conditions “related to their disability.”
In the Letters, the Agency wrote that the Prohibition of Mask Mandates "may be preventing schools … from meeting their legal obligations not to discriminate based on disability and from providing an equal educational opportunity to students with disabilities who are at heightened risk of severe illness from COVID-19.”
The Probes will examine whether the Bans Violate parts of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the Americans with Disabilities Act, that Forbid Discrimination based on a Person’s Disabilities and that give All Students the Right to Free Public Schooling. The OCR said it will Collect Data from the Five Education Departments “over the coming weeks.”
Agency Officials noted that they have Not launched Probes into: Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, and Texas, because those States are Not yet Enforcing their Policies due to Court Battles or “other state actions.”
“However, the Department will continue to closely monitor those states and is prepared to take action if state leaders prevent local schools or districts from implementing universal indoor masking or if the current court decisions were to be reversed,” the Office said in a Release.
Education Secretary, Miguel Cardona, said that Parents of Children with Disabilities have told the Department that the Prohibition on Mask Requirements is putting their Kids “at risk” and “preventing them from accessing in-person learning equally.”
"It's simply unacceptable that state leaders are putting politics over the health and education of the students they took an oath to serve,” Cardona said in a Statement. “The Department will fight to protect every student's right to access in-person learning safely and the rights of local educators to put in place policies that allow all students to return to the classroom full-time in-person safely this fall."
With the Investigations, the Biden Administration is taking a more Aggressive push against Bans on Mask Mandates in Schools.
President Biden criticized Republican Governors who instituted such Restrictions on Masking earlier this month, saying the moves were “setting a dangerous tone.” At the time, the President said he was instructing Cardona to "use all of his oversight authorities, and legal action if appropriate, against governors who are trying to block local school officials and educators."
"This isn't about politics," Biden said. “It's about keeping our children safe. It's about taking on the virus together, united. I've made it clear that I'll stand with those who are trying to do the right thing."
The Prohibitions against Mask Requirements counter the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Recommendations for All People aged 2 and Older to wear Masks Indoors at Schools.
The Administration’s action also comes as the Back-to-School Season has been Clouded by anxiety over rising COVID-19 Cases and Hospitalizations among Children across the Country.
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