News broke on Monday, September 27 around 1 p.m. that the Maricopa County Superior Court ruled that Republican lawmakers in Arizona violated the Arizona Constitution by including policies such as bans on mask mandates in public schools in the state budget.
Judge Katherine Cooper issued an injunction that effectively blocks enforcement of the laws that were set to go into effect on Wednesday, Sept. 29, which have now been deemed unconstitutional. The declaratory judgment ruling states that the laws are “void and unenforceable.”
This ruling means that it will be up to individual districts to determine whether or not they will require masks in their schools.
Arizona State Superintendent Kathy Hoffman has been vocally advocating against the ban on mask mandates in schools since the law initially passed in June.
Around 3 p.m. following the ruling, Supt. Hoffman released a statement on Twitter in response to the court’s ruling, claiming that the inclusion of the ban on mask mandates in schools was an “assault on the democratic process.”
Her statement goes on to read, “While some will likely want to challenge today’s ruling, our school communities are tired of being political pawns in dangerous attempts to subvert democracy and ignore science.”
The Arizona Democratic Party promptly responded to the news by tweeting, “This is a huge win for Arizona schools and students. The safety of our children is not political.”
At the time of publication, the Republican Party of Arizona had not made a statement regarding the ruling.
David Lujan, President and CEO of the Children’s Action Alliance took to Twitter as well and said, “This is a win for public health, for public schools, for the legislative process, and for Arizona’s future.”
Phoenix Union High School District promptly released a statement that day saying that they are pleased with the outcome of the ruling and they plan to continue enforcing their mask protocols, which have been in place since August 2.
The statement goes on to say, “As of today, over 300,000 of Arizona’s children attend a school that requires masks.”
This ruling will also significantly impact Governor Ducey’s recent decision to allocate federal grants to schools that follow state laws regarding mask mandates, which, at the time, meant that schools that did not enforce mask mandates would receive grants.
According to the original news release from August on the Office of the Governor website, “districts and charter schools following all state laws and remaining open for in-person instruction will be eligible for $163 million in grant funding aimed at boosting per pupil spending.”
Now that these state laws have been deemed unconstitutional, it is unclear what will happen with these grant funds.
At the time of publication, Governor Ducey has not personally made a statement about the court’s ruling.
Contact the reporter at clparri2@asu.edu.
Cami is Downtown Devil's co-executive editor. Cami is a third-year student studying print journalism and political science. When she's not writing or editing, she enjoys hosting radio shows, playing piano and bass, and teaching art classes at a local art studio.
