NEW ORLEANS — Attorney General Jeff Landry issued an opinion Friday that said Louisiana's top school board has the final say on mask rules in schools, not Gov. John Bel Edwards.
In the five-page opinion, Landry says the legislature gave the BESE the authority to enforce safety protocols in schools.
"BESE finds within the state constitution its authority to supervise and control education in this State, and the Legislature is the only other entity with constitutional authority to regulate education in Louisiana on a statewide basis," Landry's opinion reads.
Landry put out the opinion after Sen. Patrick McMath (R-Covington), who requested the AG's opinion on COVID-19 safety protocols in schools.
Gov. Edwards called the opinion "completely wrong."
"Not only is he wrong but he is going out of his way to undermine public confidence in mitigation measures," Edwards said during a press conference Friday. "It is sad. It is regrettable. It is also irresponsible, and it is dangerous."
Edwards issued a new statewide mask mandate Monday, specifically including schools in the order.
The Board of Elementary and Secondary Education may address COVID-19 protocols and face masks at their next meeting on Aug. 17.
As children return to school, Louisiana saw its fourth straight day of record-setting hospitalizations, continuing a grim trend as cases and deaths rise in the pandemic's fourth wave.
Across the state, 2,421 people were hospitalized with COVID as of Friday. That's a jump of 71 from the previous day's total. 90% of those patients are unvaccinated.
Masking is considered by the CDC and American Academy of Pediatrics to be the best tool for slowing the spread of COVID-19 among children, who can not yet be vaccinated against COVID-19.
Recently, the CDC recommended that even people vaccinated against COVID-19 begin wearing masks again as the Delta Variant has proven more contagious than the original strain of COVID-19.
Though vaccinated people are much less likely to get a severe case of COVID, they can still spread the virus. Doctors say masking is the best way to prevent that.
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