COLUMBIA, S.C. — The U.S. Department of Education has opened a civil rights investigation into a South Carolina budget measure aiming to stop K-12 schools from issuing mask mandates, the federal agency announced Monday.
The inquiry follows President Joe Biden's warning to Gov. Henry McMaster and governors in Iowa, Oklahoma, Tennessee and Utah with similar bans to back down. And it comes ahead of a South Carolina Supreme Court hearing Tuesday, when the high court will hear arguments whether to keep the ban in place.
The Biden administration's investigation is exploring whether the prohibitions on mask mandates discriminate against students with disabilities or who are at heightened risk for severe illness caused by COVID-19.
U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona said his agency has "heard from parents from across the country — particularly parents of students with disabilities and with underlying medical conditions — about how state bans on universal indoor masking are putting their children at risk and preventing them from accessing in-person learning equally."
He continued, "It's simply unacceptable that state leaders are putting politics over the health and education of the students they took an oath to serve."
Governor's Office spokesman Brian Symmes again called the investigation "another attempt by the Biden administration and to force a radical liberal agenda on states and people who disagree with them."
"Governor McMaster isn't going to stand for it because he knows that parents — not federal bureaucrats — know what's best for their children," Symmes said. "Under South Carolina law, anybody who wants to wear a mask — in a school setting or elsewhere — is free to do so, but the governor isn't going to ignore a parent's fundamental right to make health decisions for their children."
The investigation will specifically address whether the provision in South Carolina that is intended to ban schools from mandating mask usage violates part of the Rehabilitation Act, which protects students with disabilities from discrimination. The investigation also will look into potential violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act, which prohibits discrimination by any public entity.
In a letter to McMaster, the federal agency's civil rights office said prohibiting schools from requiring students to wear masks stops schools from being able to implement proper health and safety procedures to protect students from COVID-19 exposure.
In recent weeks, South Carolina's COVID-19 cases have surged due to the state's low vaccination rate as delta variant cases have emerged.
In the letter, the Office of Civil Rights officials said they are concerned that the restrictions on 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."
In response, the state Department of Education said in a tweet that officials had already issued guidance to schools about students who are covered under the Americans with Disabilities and the Rehabilitation acts.
"There are instances where the consideration of mask mandates is necessary for specific individuals who provide instruction and related services to, or come into contact with, students who are medically fragile, have immunocompromised and immunodeficiency conditions, or are otherwise at significant risk for medical conditions that make them more likely to become seriously ill, consistent with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control," state officials said in a letter distributed to schools.
State education officials said issuing mask mandates should be done on a case-by-case basis.
"These decisions must not be based on state and/or local across-the-board policies, procedures, practices, and prohibitions," they said. letter read.
The legal debate over South Carolina's mask measure will come to a head Tuesday.
The South Carolina Supreme Court will hear arguments twice Tuesday morning after the City of Columbia and the Richland 2 School District asked the high court to block enforcement of the provision.
Separately, last week, parents and disability groups filed a lawsuit against McMaster and other state officials over the move, claiming that the ban is making them choose between their children's health and education.
