Judge Strikes Down Federal Mask and Vaccine Mandate In Schools

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Head Start programs are the last place that mandates vaccine and mask use in public schools. On Wednesday, a federal judge in Louisiana rescinded the federal COVID-19 mandates. This means that learning institutions won’t be required to require staff, students, or volunteers to wear masks or get vaccinated.

Liberty Justice Center reported:

A federal judge in Louisiana has ruled today that federal officials cannot mandate that Head Start program staff, volunteers, and teachers be vaccinated against COVID-19. They also cannot require students and adults to wear masks. Sandy Brick, a teacher in Louisiana filed a lawsuit to stop the mandate in federal court in Louisiana. She is represented by the national law firm Liberty Justice Center as well as the Louisiana-based Pelican Initiative for Public Policy.

Daniel Suhr, the Liberty Justice Center’s managing attorney, noted that although President Biden has recently declared the “pandemic” over, the fight to restore individual liberty is still ongoing.

He said:

“We will fight for Sandy and all low-income students that they teach until every illegal or unjustified mandate is removed from the books.” “This decision today is a major step towards undoing the injustice committed against everyday Americans during the COVID-19 crisis.”

Head Start programs support families with children who are below the federal poverty line. These local nonprofits receive federal funding to offer services that ensure children from low-income families have access to quality education.

The new mandate was issued to providers on Nov. 30, 2021, by the Office of Head Start, under the Department of Health and Human Services. The interim final rule states that all staff and volunteers involved in Head Start programs must be fully vaccinated by January 31, 2022, or risk losing their jobs. According to the report, it also made mandatory universal vaccinations for all children and adults over 2 years of age.

Important to remember that even though the judge has ruled against the mandate, the government still has the option to appeal to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals. This court has previously ruled against the vaccine mandate for private companies by the state, so it is possible that they will uphold the Louisiana judge’s ruling.