Pulaski County Circuit judge Tim Fox issued a preliminary injunction against the law that Governor Asa Hutchinson signed in April banning mask requirements by governmental entities. The ban was being challenged by two lawsuits, including one from a district where more than 800 staff and students are quarantining because of a coronavirus outbreak.
Fox ruled against the measure on multiple grounds, including the argument that it discriminated between public and private schools. Fox issued the ruling hours after lawmakers adjourned a special session that Hutchinson had called to consider rolling back the ban for some schools.
Hutchinson had said the change was needed to protect children under 12 who can’t get vaccinated as the state’s virus cases and hospitalizations skyrocket.
A House panel on Thursday rejected two measures that would have allowed some school districts to issue mask requirements.
There had been growing…
