Williamsville, N.Y. (WBEN) - Western New York Students First, a non-partisan group of parents, caregivers, teachers, and school district stakeholders seeking to put children and students' needs first, has filed a lawsuit in Westchester County looking to permanently prohibit New York State, the State Department of Education, State Office of Children and Family Services, and State Health Department from enforcing the mask mandate for children in all daycare and school settings.
The lawsuit against the state argues New York's forced masking policy has harmed children in a multitude of ways, including academically, socially, emotionally, and physically. It also argues that the mask mandate has provided no benefit to limiting the transmission of COVID-19 in schools, and that the state has failed to provide credible evidence that establishes a link between masking children and reducing transmission of COVID-19 in schools.
In addition, the lawsuit filed separately argues the violation of the separation of powers clause under the New York Constitution, thus making the mask mandate invalid.
The action put forth by WNY Students First includes plaintiffs from across the state and has the support of eight experts in a number of different medical, social and psychological fields. Dana Hensley with the group believes legal action is the only way to get attention.
"Ever since we dealt with the school closures last year, there's been a growing coalition of parents that are concerned about our state making decisions for our kids that are not in their best interest," she said. "We learned last year that the only way to enact change was not through lobbying was not through rallies was through the courts. And so we decided that we needed to do that as well this year."
The group believes New York State has failed to put children first in any decisions under both Gov. Kathy Hochul and former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo. The group also feels the state has never provided any data or rationale in their decision making regarding the masking of kids, with numerous COVID-19 policies for children being based on arbitrary guesses.
"I think that everybody is generally coming around to the reality that these masks need to go, that they should have been gone a long time ago," explains Hensley. "Maybe this was something that was a temporary mitigation and 2020. But the research and data and empirical evidence shows that children do not need to be wearing masks in school."
It is the hope of parents and WNY Students First that justice will prevail for children across the state.
