Arc Iowa v. Reynolds

Citation566 F.Supp.3d 921
Decision Date08 October 2021
Docket Number4:21-cv-00264
Parties The ARC OF IOWA; Charmaine Alexander, Individually and on Behalf of C.B.; Johnathan Craig, Individually and on Behalf of E.C. and J.C.; Michelle Croft, Individually and on Behalf of J.J.B. ; Amanda Devereaux, Individually and on Behalf of P.D.; Carissa Froyum Roise, Individually and on Behalf of H.J.F.R. ; Lidija Geest, Individually and on Behalf of K.G.; Melissa Hadden, Individually and on Behalf of V.M.H.; Heather Lynn Preston, Individually and on Behalf of M.P. and S.P.; Lisa Hardisty Sithonnorath, Individually and on Behalf of A.S.; Rebekah Stewart, Individually on Behalf of E.M.S.; Erin Vercande, Individually and on Behalf of S.V., Plaintiffs, v. Kim REYNOLDS, in Her Official Capacity as Governor of Iowa; Ann Lebo, in Her Official Capacity as Director of the Iowa Department of Education; Ankeny Community School District ; Council Bluffs Community School District ; Davenport Community School District ; Decorah Community School District; Denver Community School District; Des Moines Public Schools ; Iowa City Community School District; Johnston Community School District; Linn Mar Community School District ; Waterloo Community School District, Defendants
CourtU.S. District Court — Southern District of Iowa

Rita N. Bettis Austen, Leah Denise Patton, Shefali Aurora, ACLU of Iowa Foundation, Catherine Elizabeth Johnson, Cynthia Ann Miller, Disability Rights Iowa, Des Moines, IA, Jim T. Duff, Thomas J. Duff, Duff Law Firm, P.L.C., West Des Moines, IA, John Arak Freedman, Pro Hac Vice, Arnold & Porter LLP, Shira Wakschlag, Pro Hac Vice, The Arc of the United States, Washington, DC, Louise Frances Melling, Pro Hac Vice, American Civil Liberties Union, New York, NY, Susan Phyllis Mizner, Pro Hac Vice, American Civil Liberties Union, San Francisco, CA, for Plaintiffs.

Samuel P. Langholz, Jeffrey S. Thompson, Attorney General of Iowa, Des Moines, IA, for Defendants Kim Reynolds, Ann Lebo.

Kristy Michelle Latta, Miriam D. Van Heukelem, Ahlers & Cooney PC, Des Moines, IA, for Defendants Ankeny Community School District, Davenport Community School District, Decorah Community School District, Denver Community School District, Des Moines Public Schools, Johnston Community School District, Linn Mar Community School District, Waterloo Community School District.

Timothy A. Clausen, Klass Law Firm LLP, Sioux City, IA, Kristy Michelle Latta, Miriam D. Van Heukelem, Ahlers & Cooney PC, Des Moines, IA, for Defendant Council Bluffs Community School District.

Charles Joseph Holland, Crystal K. Raiber, Holland, Michael, Raiber & Sittig PLC, Iowa City, IA, for Defendant Iowa City Community School District.

ORDER GRANTING PLAINTIFFSMOTION FOR A PRELIMINARY INJUNCTION

ROBERT W. PRATT, Judge Before the Court is Plaintiffs’ Complaint for Declaratory and Injunctive Relief against all Defendants, and PlaintiffsMotion for Temporary Restraining Order and Preliminary Injunction, both filed on September 3, 2021. ECF Nos. 1, 3. After an adversarial hearing on Plaintiffs’ Motion, the Court issued a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) enjoining Defendants from enforcing Iowa Code section 280.31 banning local public school districts from utilizing their discretion to mandate masks for students, staff, teachers, and visitors. See generally ECF No. 32. On September 21, Defendants Governor Kim Reynolds and Director of the Iowa Department of Education Ann Lebo responded to Plaintiffsrequest for a preliminary injunction, ECF No. 42, and filed a Supplemental Response in support of their proposed bond amount on September 24, ECF No. 46. On September 26, Plaintiffs filed their Reply to their Motion for a Preliminary Injunction. ECF No. 48. On September 27, the Court granted PlaintiffsMotion for 14-day Extension of TRO to allow for sufficient time to review the parties’ numerous filings. ECF No. 49. The Court also permitted the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and the Iowa Chapter of the AAP to file a brief as Amici Curiae. ECF Nos. 58, 59. The parties agree further oral argument is not necessary, and the Court agrees after reviewing the parties’ submissions. Therefore, the matter is fully submitted.

I. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND1

Just after midnight on May 20, 2021, Governor Reynolds signed a bill introduced and passed by the Iowa Legislature mere hours earlier that included a provision banning local school districts from implementing universal mask policies on school property. Act of May 20, 2021 (H.F. 847), ch. 139, 2021 Iowa Act § 28 (to be codified at Iowa Code § 280.31 ). The law provides that school districts in Iowa "shall not adopt, enforce, or implement a policy that requires its employees, students, or members of the public to wear a facial covering for any purpose while on the school district's ... property." Iowa Code § 280.31. The law includes an exception allowing school districts to require masks be worn when "necessary for a specific extracurricular or instructional purpose" or when a mask "is required by ... any ... provision of law." Id. Despite there being less than two weeks left of school for most of Iowa's students, the law went into effect immediately.

After COVID-19 vaccines became widely available, the number of new cases began to drop in Iowa until eventually case numbers were at their lowest in early July 2021. ECF No. 1 at 9 ¶ 32. Around that same time, however, the Delta variant became the dominant variant of COVID-19 in the United States. See ECF No. 42 at 23 (citing Emily Anthes, Delta, as Expected, Is Now the Dominant Virus Variant in the U.S., the C.D.C. Estimates , N.Y. Times (July 14, 2021), https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/07/health/delta-variant-cdc.html). Ever since then, the number of new cases has risen sharply, especially among children. ECF No. 1 at 9–10. Iowa currently has the highest rate of COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations it has seen in 2021. ECF No. 48-2 ¶ 21.

The number of pediatric COVID-19 cases has exploded since school started. As of September 30, pediatric cases represented over sixteen percent of the total U.S. cases, with nearly 5.9 million children testing positive since the pandemic began.2 Children and COVID-19: State-Level Data Report , Am. Acad. Pediatrics, https://www.aap.org/en/pages/2019-novel-coronavirus-covid-19-infections/children-and-covid-19-state-level-data-report/ (Oct. 4, 2021). Nearly 850,000 pediatric cases were added in the month of September, with over 173,000 added in the final week. Id. Twenty percent of all pediatric cases since the beginning of the pandemic were diagnosed in the first month of school this year. ECF No. 59 at 5. The number of children who have been hospitalized due to COVID-19 has also substantially increased since the start of school. Id. More children have died each week this school year than in any other week of the pandemic but one. Id. Unfathomably, one hundred and forty-two children died between the AAP's reports of August 12 and September 30, bringing the total number of COVID-19 deaths of children to 520. Children and COVID-19: State Data Report at App'x Tab. 2C, Children's Hosp. Ass'n & Am. Acad. Pediatrics (Sept. 30, 2021), https://downloads.aap.org/AAP/PDF/AAP% 20and% 20CHA% 20-% 20Children% 20and% 20COVID19% 20State% 20Data% 20Report% 209.30% 20FINAL.pdf. Iowa is not immune to this recent surge in pediatric cases. On September 22, the state reached a record high with more than twenty-five percent of Iowa's new reported cases being in children. ECF No. 48-2 ¶ 24. Several schools in Iowa have reported more positive cases in the first few weeks of school than during the entire previous academic year. Id. ¶ 26(a).

Although hospitalizations and death rates are low among children, see Children and COVID-19: State-Level Data Report, supra , children are at risk for other severe complications related to COVID-19, ECF No. 59 at 6. Children may suffer from multisystem inflammatory syndrome (MIS-C) and can experience serious long-term symptoms affecting their lungs, hearts, and brains and can also impact their neurological development. Id. at 6–7. The disease presents even greater risks for children with underlying health conditions. Id. at 7.

For these reasons, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the AAP recommend "universal indoor masking for all teachers, staff, students, and visitors to K-12 schools, regardless of vaccination

status." ECF No. 3-1 ¶ 22 (quoting Guidance for Covid-19 Prevention in K-12 Schools , Ctrs. for Disease Control & Prevention (Aug. 5, 2021), https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/community/schools-childcare/k-12-guidance.html); see ECF No. 59 at 11 ("Among the prevention measures we recommend (such as immunization of all eligible individuals and adequate and timely COVID-19 testing), one of the most important is that [a]ll students older than 2 years and all school staff should wear face masks at school (unless medical or developmental conditions prohibit use).’ " (quoting COVID-19 Guidance for Safe Schools , Am. Acad. Pediatrics (July 18, 2021), https://www.aap.org/en/pages/2019-novel-coronavirus-covid-19-infections/clinical-guidance/covid-19-planning-considerations-return-to-in-person-education-in-schools). Universal masking policies are especially important to protect medically vulnerable children because they "reduce[ ] community transmission, thus reducing the likelihood that an infected person will come in contact with a child with special health needs, and reduces the likelihood of transmission to the child if an infected person does come into contact with an especially vulnerable child." ECF No. 59 at 4, 12. Both the CDC and the AAP recognize there are rare circumstances in which people with disabilities should be excused from wearing a mask. See Guidance for Covid-19 Prevention in K-12 Schools, supra at 4–5; ECF No. 59 at 19.

As noted in the TRO, universal masking is necessary to reduce the spread of the virus. See ECF No. 32 at...

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