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Virginia Governor, AG, School Chief Side With Loudoun County Parents in School Mask Mandate Lawsuit
epoch times ^ | 3 Febuary A.D. 2022 | Bill Pan

Posted on 02/03/2022 10:07:51 AM PST by lightman

Virginia’s governor, attorney general, and the superintendent of public instruction have asked to join a lawsuit on behalf of parents fighting to opt their children out of mask mandates at school.

The lawsuit was filed Tuesday by three families against Loudoun County Public Schools, one of Virginia’s public school districts that insist on requiring students to wear a mask in school buildings in defiance of Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s order.

Just hours after his inauguration on Jan. 15, Youngkin signed an executive order to make masks optional in schools across the state. But the Loudoun County School Board voted to support Superintendent Scott Ziegler’s decision to keep the mask requirements in place, citing COVID-19 concerns.

The suing parents argued in the complaint that the decision is neither rational nor scientific, noting that many adults, who are at higher risks from COVID-19, have already returned to their pre-pandemic lives.

“The board continues to demand that [students] wear restrictive facemasks for up to seven or eight hours a day—imposing physical, psychological, and developmental consequences that could be severe,” the complaint reads. “Virginians are currently free to eat at restaurants, stroll shopping malls, go bowling, watch the NFL playoffs at a local tartan, and engage in innumerable other indoor activities—all without wearing masks. Yet children in Loudoun County’s public schools remain trapped in 2020-era pandemic policies that are increasingly difficult to justify.”

On top of that, the parents argued that the school district has violated Virginia state law, which guarantees a “fundamental right” for a parent to “make decisions concerning the upbringing, education, and care of the parent’s child.”

In an announcement on Wednesday, Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares said he has joined Gov. Youngkin and Superintendent of Public Instruction Jillian Balow to file a motion to be part of the lawsuit on the parents’ side.

“After nearly two years in this pandemic, we have better risk mitigation strategies and vaccines, and we know much more about the efficacy of requiring children to wear masks all day,” the announcement reads. “Parents know what is best for their children and should be able to decide if their children wear a mask for eight hours a day.”

Youngkin’s executive order also faces legal challenges from other school boards, who argue that the mask-optional policy is in violation of a law passed during the Ralph Northam administration.

SB 1303, signed into law by Northam last year, requires that school districts provide full-time in-person instruction and follow the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) guidance “to the maximum extent practicable.” The CDC still recommends universal indoor masking in schools.

Interestingly, the Loudoun County parents also cited SB 1303 as part of the legal basis of their challenge against universal mask mandates, since their children have been denied in-person instruction for not wearing masks.

In messages sent to parents, schools in the Loudoun County school system warned that refusal to wear a mask in school will result in immediate suspension. Any students “who willfully continue to refuse to follow COVID mitigation measures as required by Loudoun County Public Schools will be suspended from school” for “disobedience” and “defiance,” according to the letters reviewed by The Epoch Times.


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Government; News/Current Events; US: Virginia
KEYWORDS: arth; loudon; mask; youngkin
“Parents know what is best for their children and should be able to decide if their children wear a mask for eight hours a day.”
1 posted on 02/03/2022 10:07:51 AM PST by lightman
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To: lightman

2 posted on 02/03/2022 10:08:26 AM PST by lightman (I am a binary Trinitarian. Deal with it!)
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To: lightman

compliance is more important than science


3 posted on 02/03/2022 10:18:59 AM PST by joshua c (Dump the LEFT. Cable tv, Big tech, national name brands)
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To: lightman

Refreshing, state officials actually working for their citizens.


4 posted on 02/03/2022 10:20:08 AM PST by KC_Conspirator
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To: joshua c
It’s all about teaching COMPLIANCE….
...not “following the science”:

Masks are:

1) a sign of submission, subversion and subjugation
2) mandated in order to dehumanize
3) virtue signaling devices
4) meant to provide constant reinforcement of fear
5) used to destroy community, friends and family normal communication
6) implemented to create isolation, confusion, anxiety, destroy human connectivity, trust and interactions
7) mandated to exacerbate illness
8) intended to aid in the abandonment of the belief and reliance on our immune systems
9) intended to refute integrous science
10) signal to positions of power that you are willing to give up all of your rights and freedoms based on anything they say, even if it is a BIG FAT LIE!


5 posted on 02/03/2022 10:24:51 AM PST by lightman (I am a binary Trinitarian. Deal with it!)
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To: 11th_VA; metmom

Ping


6 posted on 02/03/2022 11:59:11 AM PST by lightman (I am a binary Trinitarian. Deal with it!)
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To: 6amgelsmama; 100American; AAABEST; aberaussie; AccountantMom; Aggie Mama; agrace; AliVeritas; ...

ANOTHER REASON TO HOMESCHOOL

This ping list is for the other articles of interest to homeschoolers about education and public school. This can occasionally be a fairly high volume list. Articles pinged to the Another Reason to Homeschool List will be given the keyword of ARTH. (If I remember. If I forget, please feel free to add it yourself)

The main Homeschool Ping List handles the homeschool-specific articles. I hold both the Homeschool Ping List and the Another Reason to Homeschool Ping list. Please freepmail me to let me know if you would like to be added to or removed from either list, or both.

7 posted on 02/03/2022 12:20:52 PM PST by metmom (...fixing our eyes on Jesus, the Author and Perfecter of our faith….)
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To: lightman

www.bondsforthewin.com


8 posted on 02/03/2022 12:27:45 PM PST by cuz1961 (USCGR Veteran )
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To: lightman

So a Governor’s executive order has no meaning and can be ignored.


9 posted on 02/03/2022 12:41:52 PM PST by Colo9250
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To: lightman

Very good


10 posted on 02/03/2022 1:05:55 PM PST by cycjec (NO Con-Con NO)
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To: lightman

Send state troopers and the national guard to each school that tries to keep out these kids. Arrest any official interfering with their education.


11 posted on 02/03/2022 1:17:25 PM PST by Pxzftrnqfrn
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To: lightman

bump


12 posted on 02/03/2022 8:27:17 PM PST by Albion Wilde (If science can’t be questioned, it’s not science anymore, it’s propaganda. --Aaron Rodgers)
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