S Carolina court upholds mask ban; trumped by federal ruling

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Two days after a federal judge decided that South Carolina's ban on school mask requirements discriminates against medically fragile students, the state Supreme Court disagreed, in a ruling that won't change the week's events.

Federal law trumps state law, so the U.S. District Court ruling allowing school districts to require masks is the binding one. Within an hour, South Carolina education officials sent out a memo telling districts that Thursday’s state decision changed nothing.

The South Carolina Supreme Court said districts can require masks without violating the state rule if they can find a way to avoid spending state money enforcing the wearing of face coverings.

The court also upheld as legal a different provision in the state budget, which limits school districts to having 5% of their students learning virtually all year, reducing state funding by half for each student above that mark.

Lawyers for Richland School District 2 argued the Legislature violated state law that requires legislation to only be about one topic. But the justices in their unanimous ruling said since the rules included clauses about spending state money, it was legal.

Where the two courts disagreed was on whether the state not allowing districts to make their own mask rules discriminates and prevents some students from getting the public education they have a right to get under the law.

U.S. District Judge Mary Geiger Lewis said it wasn't a close call to side with the parents of disabled children who sued the state with the help of The American Civil Liberties Union. Her ruling, issued Tuesday, said any burden from having to wear a mask is greatly outweighed by the need to ensure that medically fragile students feel safe enough to go to school.

“It is...