Federal Judge Rules In Favor Of Immunocompromised Students In Virginia

VIRGINIA — A federal judge ruled Wednesday that certain schools in Virginia, including some in Fairfax County, Loudoun County and the City of Manassas, can require students to wear face masks if necessary to protect immunocompromised children whose families filed a lawsuit over mask-optional policies.

Judge Norman K. Moon said his order is limited only to the 12 families who filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Virginia in Charlottesville. Their children attend 10 different school districts in Virginia and range in age from preschool to 11th grade.

Moon, in his opinion granting injunctive relief, did not challenge a recent state law and an executive order from Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin that made the wearing of masks by students optional in Virginia public schools.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Virginia filed the lawsuit on behalf of the 12 families. On Wednesday, the group tweeted: “We are glad the court agreed: No student should have to risk their lives to go to school.”

Because Moon’s ruling only applied to the children of the 12 families, Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares said in a statement Wednesday that the ruling affirms that “parents have the right to make choices for their children,” The Washington Post reported.

The lawsuit filed by the ACLU on behalf of the families is now expected to move forward in court, WTOP reported.

On Jan. 15, Youngkin signed Executive Order 2, which said parents can opt their children out of masking requirements in Virginia schools, even if the school or district has otherwise determined mandatory masking to be an appropriate COVID-19 prevention measure. On Feb. 26, the Virginia legislature enacted SB 739, codifying the same requirement in a Virginia statute, which went into effect on March 1.

"E.O. 2 and S.B. 739 are the law in Virginia and they remain in force, affording parents the choice whether their children should wear masks to school, notwithstanding any school rule that would require students to wear masks," Moon wrote in his opinion issued Wednesday.

The 12 families filed their lawsuit in federal court on the basis that the state law violates their rights under federal law, specifically, the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Rehabilitation Act. The children of the parents who filed the lawsuit all have disabilities or illnesses that put them at an increased risk of severe injury or death if they contract COVID-19, the judge explained.

In his opinion, Moon wrote that he recognizes the defendants’ claims that a blanket injunction would not serve the public interest given that “student mask mandates are no longer generally recommended by the CDC, and are detrimental to many children’s academic, social, and emotional development, and to their mental health.”

The judge also wrote that the court "enjoins Defendants from enforcing E.O. 2 and S.B. 739 only as against these Plaintiffs in their ability to ask for (not definitely to receive) from their schools some amount of masking as a reasonable modification."

"Simply put, federal law demands just such a fact-specific inquiry into reasonableness, and E.O. 2 and S.B. 739 — just like any other state law — cannot preclude Plaintiffs from asking for some required masking as a reasonable modification, nor can they bar Plaintiffs’ schools from implementing some required masking, if in fact, it would constitute a reasonable modification under federal law," Moon said.

The 10 school districts affected by the judge’s ruling are Albemarle County Public Schools, Manassas City Public Schools, Henrico County Public Schools, Chesterfield County Public Schools, Cumberland County Public Schools, York County School Division, Bedford County Public Schools, Chesapeake City Public Schools, Loudoun County Public Schools and Fairfax County Public Schools.

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