Here Are The States Where Government Schools Can’t Force Your Kid To Wear A Mask

While 21.4 percent of school districts still require masks, 19.5 percent are banned from issuing mandates on kids or teachers who do not wish to wear them.

THE FEDERALIST | By Jordan Davidson | July 29, 2021

This list will be updated regularly.

Schools across the country closed their doors for months to fit the demands of anti-science and hypocritical teachers unions. President Joe Biden and his team in the White House repeatedly ignored scientific data that recommended students immediately return to classrooms to cater to these unions that held taxpayers hostage with demands unrelated to COVID-19.

Now government schools are evaluating if they should require masks in light of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s most recent flip-flop on face coverings, even for those who are vaccinated, due to the Delta variant.

While 21.4 percent of U.S. school districts still require masks, 19.5 percent are banned from issuing mask mandates on children or teachers who do not wish to wear them when their next semester begins.

Here are the states where public schools can’t force your kid to wear a mask.

Texas

Republican Gov. Greg Abbott signed an executive order in May prohibiting mask mandates in government schools across the Lone Star State beginning in June. The executive order not only supersedes any mask requirements that public schools might try to impose but also threatens any entity that doesn’t comply with a fine as high as $1,000.

Abbott also ordered the Texas Education Agency to “revise” its masking guidance starting on June 4 to reinforce that “no student,
teacher, parent, or other staff member or visitor may be required to wear a face-covering” on public school property.

“The Lone Star State continues to defeat COVID-19 through the use of widely-available vaccines, antibody therapeutic drugs, and safe practices utilized by Texans in our communities,” Abbott said. “Texans, not government, should decide their best health practices, which is why masks will not be mandated by public school districts or government entities. We can continue to mitigate COVID-19 while defending Texans’ liberty to choose whether or not they mask up.”

Arizona

The Arizona state legislature passed legislation in June banning public schools from imposing mask mandates or regular COVID-19 testing. Republican Gov. Doug Ducey also took executive action to prevent any state colleges and universities from forcing face coverings on students.

Shortly after the release of the CDC’s newest guidelines telling vaccinated adults and children to mask up in schools, Ducey reaffirmed that the state “does not allow mask mandates, vaccine mandates, vaccine passports or discrimination in schools based on who is or isn’t vaccinated.” He called out the Biden administration for failing to “effectively confront the COVID-19 pandemic” and for sowing doubt about the COVID vaccine, and criticized the CDC for issuing “unnecessary and unhelpful ‘guidance.’”

Utah

While Utah’s Department of Health claims masks are still required in all K-12 schools in the state, the state legislature passed a measure banning public schools and state universities from imposing mask mandates in May.

Despite his previous support for masking requirements, Republican Gov. Spencer Cox cut the state’s mask mandate for schools short at the end of the semester and said he has no plans to reinstate it for the fall semester.

Oklahoma

The Oklahoma state legislature passed a law that banned government school districts from mandating masks unless the governor chooses to enact a new state of emergency. Republican Gov. Kevin Stitt already promised not to implement another round of emergency orders and said he believes “this is about personal responsibility. … This is about freedoms.”

Another bill prohibits any schools or universities from requiring students or faculty to get the COVID-19 vaccine or wear masks if they are unvaccinated.

“The difference is, we’re not going to mandate that somebody else has to send their 4-year-old to school with a mask or someone else has to get their 4-year-old vaccinated,” Stitt said.

Arkansas

The Arkansas state legislature and Republican Gov. Asa Hutchinson teamed up in April to pass and enact legislation banning state-funded schools from requiring masks.

While students currently can’t be forced to don a face covering while in school, Hutchison hinted that he “will be evaluating options for legislative changes to Act 1002 that will give our schools more local control on meeting the health needs of the students as we enter a new school year in the face of the delta variant.”

Iowa

When the Iowa state legislature enacted a ban on mask mandates in public schools in May, Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds was quick to sign the legislation.

Shortly after the CDC issued its newest masking guidelines, Reynolds dismissed the face-covering suggestions as “not grounded in reality or common sense.”

“I’m concerned that this guidance will be used as a vehicle to mandate masks in states and schools across the country, something I do not support,” Reynolds said.

South Carolina

The South Carolina state legislature passed a budget bill this summer with conditions prohibiting school districts from using government funds to “require that its students and/or employees wear a face mask at any of its education facilities.”

Some States Say Mask Mandates in Schools Are Optional

Other state legislatures, whose states make up the 55 percent that allow local flexibility for mask mandates, are considering action to further prevent schools from dictating if students must cover their faces.

In Florida, Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis hinted at future legislation to push back on the federal government or local school districts that “try to push for mandatory masking of school children.”

“I know our legislature feels strongly about it such that if you started to see a push from the feds or some of these local school districts, I know they’re interested in coming in, even in this special session to be able to provide protections for parents who just want to breathe freely, don’t want to be suffering under these masks, during the school year,” DeSantis said.

Forcing kids to wear masks is bad policy. Parents are best equipped to decide whether they want their kids to wear a mask in school. Neither bureaucrats in Washington nor local authorities should be able to override the decision of the parents. pic.twitter.com/1TyFByAaWf

— Ron DeSantis (@GovRonDeSantis) July 28, 2021

Jordan Davidson is a staff writer at The Federalist. She graduated from Baylor University where she majored in political science and minored in journalism.

Photos: Burbio/Photo, Pexels/Photo, August de Richelieu/Pexels