LOUDOUN COUNTY, Va. — The governor of Virginia, the attorney general and the superintendent of public instruction have taken the side of a few parents in a battle against the Loudoun County Public School Board.
In a press release Wednesday, the Office of the Attorney General of Virginia announced that the trio of officials have filed a motion to join parents in a pending lawsuit against the school board.
Three parents are suing the LCPS school board after the board voted 8-1 in favor of keeping kids in masks despite an executive order from Gov. Glenn Youngkin giving parents the authority when deciding whether or not students must come to school masked.
The office of the attorney general said parents know what is best for their children and should be able to decide if their child should wear a mask for eight hours a day.
Three parents of elementary school kids -- Kristen Barnett, Heather Yescavage and Colin Doniger -- say the school board has "directly interfered with the rights of parents" and that masks have provided "adverse physical and mental health effects."
The motion filed Wednesday seeks for a temporary injunction and a motion for a temporary restraining order
“When the pandemic started, Governor Northam used his emergency powers to close down places of worship, private businesses, and schools, and impose a universal mask mandate," said Attorney General Miyares. "Nearly two years later, Governor Youngkin is using those same emergency powers to adapt to our current phase in the same pandemic, by giving parents the ability to opt-out of a school mask mandate. We have always expected this to be settled in the judicial system and have complete faith in the legal process. In the meantime, we encourage parents to listen to their school principal while this is being resolved in the courts.”
The motion can be read here.
During a visit to a grocery store in Alexandria to promote his effort to eliminate grocery taxes on Thursday, Youngkin expressed his support to the parents again.
"I'm just so proud of parents that are standing up to protect their children's rights like parents in Loudoun County right now," he said.
Close to 30 students have been suspended under school board policies for failure to follow LCPS COVID-mitigation measures, according to an LCPS spokesperson. Approximately 200 students have shown up to school without a mask.
Youngkin expressed disapproval over getting kids getting suspended.
"History will not look fondly upon them for taking these decisions to tell children who want to be in school that they can't be in school," he said.
READ: The full lawsuit below.