Federal judge suspends ban on mask mandates in South Carolina schools

New mask guidance for South Carolina schools was released Wednesday by the state's superintendent of education and department of education.

"The governor strongly disagrees with the court’s decision and will defend a parent’s right to decide what’s best for their children up to the United States Supreme Court, if necessary," Symmes said in a statement.South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson posted the following statement on his website:In response to a federal judge’s ruling blocking Proviso 1.108, which prohibits the use of state funds to enforce K-12 school mask mandates, Attorney General Alan Wilson said, "We disagree with the judge’s position and we plan to appeal."The ruling wasn’t even a close call, U.S. District Judge Mary Geiger Lewis wrote, stopping the state from enforcing a one-year ban placed in the budget.

"It is noncontroversial that children need to go to school. And, they are entitled to any reasonable accommodation that allows them to do so. No one can reasonably argue that it is an undue burden to wear a mask to accommodate a child with disabilities," Lewis wrote.Lewis compared the General Assembly preventing mask requirements to telling schools they can no longer install wheelchair ramps.

"Masks must, at a minimum, be an option for school districts to employ to accommodate those with disabilities so they, too, can access a free public education," the judge wrote.