Council Bluff mom expands suit against Iowa over school mask ban law

DES MOINES — An Iowa woman has amended her lawsuit over the state's ban on mandatory face masks in schools to include allegations the law violates state and federal constitutional protections.

Frances Parr, of Council Bluffs, last week sued the state, Gov. Kim Reynolds and several state officials in Polk County District Court. The suit seeks an order requiring the state to issue a mask mandate for all students and school personnel until a voluntary plan can be implemented that segregates mask-wearing students and staff from those who opt not to wear masks.

A revised petition was filed Friday by Parr's attorney. Daniel McGinn. It additionally asked the court to declare that the law violates equal protection and due process rights guaranteed in the federal and state constitutions.

The lawsuit claims the law is unenforceable under a doctrine recognized in Iowa since 1918 that holds that schools must be safe, and that is not met by "putting students at risk of COVID-19 and the delta variant for no rational reason. Neither the state nor parents have a right to unnecessarily expose a child to a communicable disease."

Parr’s children were set to start first grade in Council Bluffs this fall, but instead will be taught at home over their mother's fear for their safety.

The additional filing came on the same day that the chief justice of the Iowa Supreme Court signed an order making masks mandatory in areas in facilities controlled by the courts — in contrast to the state law, which bans similar mandates in public schools. The order signed by Chief Justice Susan Christensen, who was appointed to the court by Reynolds, cites Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines for mask wearing.

The controversy over the law is building as Iowa experiences a surge in COVID-19 delta variant cases. In the past month Iowa has gone from a seven-day moving average of cases of less than 300 a day to now more than 1,000 a day. Hospitalizations statewide went from 120 to 450 in the past 30 days.

"It's very alarming to us because we haven't seen cases like this since October of 2020," said Polk County Health Department spokeswoman Nola Aigner Davis. "We are surging again."