TBA Law Blog


Posted by: Stacey Shrader Joslin on Sep 2, 2021

Federal education officials have launched a civil rights investigation into Gov. Bill Lee’s recent executive order prohibiting school districts from mandating mask-wearing, saying such policies could amount to illegal discrimination against students with disabilities. Investigations were also opened into similar orders in Oklahoma, South Carolina and Utah, Tennessee Lookout reports. The investigations will examine whether “students with disabilities, who are at heightened risk for severe illness from COVID-19, are prevented from safely returning to in-person education” as a result of the policies. The Department of Education had previously warned that the order could run afoul of federal law. The governor is also being sued by Shelby County and a group of families.