Student mask cases taken to South Carolina Supreme Court
GREENVILLE, S.C. — The state Supreme Court is hearing arguments Tuesday in cases centered on the South Carolina legislation that prohibits school districts from requiring students to wear masks in schools.
The language — which was passed by the Legislature as a proviso to the state budget in June — creates challenges in how school districts can legally respond to the ongoing threat of COVID-19, particularly the highly contagious Delta variant. Those who go against the proviso can lose key state funding for education.
This week's state Supreme Court arguments come after the city of Columbia, South Carolina, approved its own mask regulations, having the effect of telling schools to ignore the language in the legislative proviso.
Attorney General Alan Wilson is asking the court to invalidate Columbia's city ordinance and order any school districts to obey the no-mask legislation.
Speaking on behalf of the state, Deputy Solicitor General J. Emory Smith Jr. said that the city ordinance can't be allowed to stand because "teachers would be at the front line of" enforcing a mask requirement in schools. He argued that can't be allowed to happen because teachers are paid, at least in part, with state funds.
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Attorney Chris Kenney, speaking on behalf of the city of Columbia, said the city would not use state funds to enforce the mask ordinance, but would use local money or other funds that are not controlled or appropriated by the state Legislature. Kenney also argued that language requiring or prohibiting masks doesn't belong in a state budget.
"Mask mandates have nothing to do with ... the raising and spending of money," he said.
In a second state Supreme Court case to be heard Tuesday, Richland County School District 2 and a parent acting on behalf of her children are suing the state, asking the court to halt the mask ban until it issues a ruling on the other litigation.
Two Upstate school districts have already faced challenges due to COVID-19.
Pickens County Schools recently halted in-person instruction after just nine days of classes when an outbreak in the district led to case numbers that eclipsed what had been peak sickness figures from last winter. The school district has since resumed in-person classes, despite increasing COVID-19 case numbers.
Greenville County Schools became the subject of a lawsuit in federal court filed by three parents who said the district should follow COVID-19 guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and require masks on school buses.
After that suit was filed, Greenville County Schools said Thursday that it would adhere to the latest guidelines from the state Department of Health and Environmental Control and announced by the state Department of Education. As of Monday, Greenville County Schools began requiring students to wear masks while on school buses.
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As the state Supreme Court hears arguments Tuesday, South Carolina has become one of five states under investigation for its bans on indoor masking.
South Carolina is being investigated by the U.S. Department of Education over whether those bans discriminate against students with disabilities.
The agency's Office for Civil Rights is looking into whether the prohibitions discriminate against students who are at heightened risk for severe illness from COVID-19 by preventing them from safely accessing in-person education.
“The Department 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,” said U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona in a prepared statement. “It’s simply unacceptable that state leaders are putting politics over the health and education of the students they took an oath to serve."
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