LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — The Arkansas Supreme Court on Thursday reversed a judge’s decision to block a school district’s mask mandate that was implemented to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
Justices reversed the temporary restraining order issued against the Bentonville School District’s mask requirement. Bentonville was among dozens of districts that imposed a mask requirement last year after a state law banning such mandates was blocked in a separate case. A group of parents had sued challenging the mandate.
The court said that Arkansas’ laws give schools broad authority to determine their policies.
“Based on this precedent, we conclude that the district properly authorized its policy,” Chief Justice Dan Kemp wrote in the court’s ruling.
A spokeswoman said the district has no plans to reinstate the mask requirement at this time.
Mask mandates were also implemented in many school districts in Southeast Arkansas including Pine Bluff, Watson Chapel and White Hall.
“From the outset of our appeal, we’ve maintained the lower court’s ruling puts school boards and school administrators in a position to face litigation each time a family doesn’t agree with a policy affecting their child,” Spokeswoman Leslee Wright said in a statement. “The Arkansas Supreme Court’s ruling reaffirms a school board’s authority to create an environment that protects students, to the best of their ability, while at school.”
