West DSM News

An Urbandale mother mother says that the choice between sending her young asthmatic son to school where masks were not mandated or keep him home with no online learning option is what pushed her to sue the state.

Charmaine Alexander joined with ten other families and West Des Moines-based disability services and support group The Arc of Iowa in a federal lawsuit to strike down Iowa's mandate against school mask mandate. The lawsuit, backed by the American Civil Liberties Union of Iowa, argues that Iowa's ban on mask mandates in schools endangers children's health and denies them equal access to education.

Gov. Kim Reynolds with a young constituent at the Iowa State Fair in August. | facebook.com/IAGovernor/

"I am doing this to help create a safe environment not only for my own child but for all children, including those with disabilities and other conditions," Alexander said in an ACLU of Iowa news release issued Sept. 3. "You would think that schools would make the safety of their students their top priority, but unfortunately, that is not happening because of this law."

The law is Iowa House File 847, passed by the state Legislature and signed into law by Gov. Kim Reynolds earlier this year, which mandates against local school district mask mandates.

"The state of Iowa is putting parents back in control of their child’s education and taking greater steps to protect the rights of all Iowans to make their own health care decisions," Reynolds said in a May 19 Facebook post shortly after signing the bill.

The lawsuit filed Sept. 3 in U.S. District Court for Iowa's Southern District called for the law to be blocked because it violates federal Americans with Disabilities and the Rehabilitation Act. The lawsuit also asks the district court to allow Iowa school districts to adopt mask mandates for their students and staff.

"We’re suing to halt Iowa’s ban on mask mandates in schools," the ACLU of Iowa said in a Twitter post the same day. "This ban is discriminatory, and requires students with disabilities to risk their health in order to get an education. It must be stopped."

A temporary restraining order hearing in the case was scheduled for Friday, Sept. 10, before U.S. District Court Judge Robert W. Pratt.

Allowing Iowa children to have an opportunity for safe, in-person learning is important, Alexander said.

"I think most parents have seen that over the last year," she said, according to the news release. "But what are you supposed to do when you're in my position and are afraid that if you send your child to school so that they can keep up with their education, you're afraid that the worst might happen?"

Children whose parents joined in the lawsuit attend schools in different Iowa districts that offer varying online learning opportunities, with some offering only prerecorded materials and no live teacher support, according to the ACLU's news release.

Johnston Community School District, where Alexander's son Corban's school is located, offers no online learning options, according to another ACLU of Iowa news release issued Sept. 6.

Another parent in the lawsuit, Heather Preston of Des Moines, has two school-age children, one of whom has a rare organ disorder whose doctor says puts him at risk for serious illness should he contract COVID-19.

"I know that a parent can't protect their child from all things, but they have a responsibility to protect them from serious safety threats," Preston said in the more recent ACLU of Iowa news release. "It's terrifying for a parent to have to worry every day about the physical safety of their child, and to have to choose between their child keeping up with their education and their child becoming seriously ill, or perhaps even dying. That's a choice no parent should have to make. I want my children to come home safe from school."