VIRGINIA – A court decision recently ruled in favor of parents trying to control the use of a statewide optional mask executive order, but only for their kids.
The plaintiffs in the case are the parents of 12 children who have disabilities that put them at risk should they contract COVID-19.
When Governor Youngkin signed Executive Order 2, which gave other parents the power to opt their children out of mask requirements at any school, the parents filed a motion to deviate from that law to protect their children from the virus.
According to court documents, the parents asked the Court “to enjoin Virginia, its Governor and Attorney General and other Defendants, from enforcing E.O. 2 and S.B. 739, on the basis that those state laws violate their rights under federal law, specifically, the Americans with Disabilities Act (or ADA) and the Rehabilitation Act.”
The court responded saying “E.O. 2 and S.B. 739 are the law in Virginia. This is not a class action, and the twelve plaintiffs in this case have no legal right to ask the Court to deviate from that state law in any schools in Virginia (much less school districts) their children do not attend, or indeed even those areas of their schools in which Plaintiffs’ children do not frequent. In other words, only those schools Plaintiffs attend or would attend are directly impacted by this Court’s decision.”
The schools affected in the court decision are Brownsville Elementary School, Stanton River Middle, Grassfield Elementary, Southeastern Elementary, Enon Elementary, Cumberland Elementary, Stenwood Elementary, Quioccasin Middle, Trailside Middle, Loudoun County High, Jennie Dean Elementary, and Tabb Middle.
Related: List of local school districts where masking is now optional
Attorney General Miyares released a statement following the court ruling: “Today’s ruling affirms that Governor Youngkin’s Executive Order 2 and Senate Bill 739 is the law of Virginia and parents have the right to make choices for their children.”
