Seven school boards sue to stop Gov. Youngkin?s mask-optional order on the day it takes effect

Monday dawned full of chaos for Virginia schools as seven school boards sued to stop the mask-optional order by Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) on the day it took effect — while some parents brought maskless children to school and picketed outside when administrators isolated unmasked students from their peers.The school boards — led by the board for Fairfax County Public Schools, the largest, most prominent district in the state — are arguing that Youngkin’s order violates the Virginia Constitution. Their lawsuit, filed Monday morning in Arlington Circuit Court, asks for an immediate injunction barring enforcement of Youngkin’s order, which sought to leave masking decisions to parents, contravening federal health guidance and the masking mandates that most Virginia school districts have maintained throughout the coronavirus pandemic.In the school boards’ complaint, their lawyers write that Youngkin’s executive order goes against Article 8, Section 7 of Virginia’s constitution, which asserts that “the supervision of schools in each school division shall be vested in a school board.” The lawyers also say Youngkin’s order contradicts a state law passed over the summer that requires Virginia school districts to follow federal health guidelines to the “maximum extent practicable.” The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends masking inside K-12 schools for everyone over age 2, regardless of vaccination status.The school boards joining Fairfax’s suit include those for Alexandria City Public Schools, Arlington Public Schools, Falls Church City Public Schools, Hampton City Schools, Prince William County Public Schools and Richmond Public Schools. She said the district has not once been forced to shut down a school because of high transmission of coronavirus cases.Youngkin’s predecessor, former governor Ralph Northam (D), issued a public health order over the summer requiring masking inside schools — which bears superficial similarity, Pekarsky acknowledged, to Youngkin’s attempt to tell school districts what to do about masking.But Pekarsky said Northam’s order was acceptable because it did not go against what Fairfax had already decided to do — require masking — or against federal health guidance or Virginia state law.Northam’s mask mandate “was in accordance with what we needed to do to keep our students safe,” she said.Pekarsky said her message to parents who do not want to mask their children at school is to have patience.