Federal court: Iowa may enforce mask ban in most schools

By DAVID PITT
Associated Press

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A federal appeals court has allowed the state of Iowa to enforce a law that prevents local schools from imposing mask mandates. However, the court also allowed a group of parents of disabled children to pursue a lawsuit that seeks to strike down the law. Two members of a three-judge panel of the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Omaha on Tuesday found a previous federal judge’s decision that blocked the state ban on mask mandates was too broad. They sided with the parents and a disability rights group in concluding that their lawsuit can proceed in federal court. The panel found the parents likely will succeed because mask requirements constitute a reasonable modification and schools’ failure to provide this accommodation likely violates the federal Rehabilitation Act.