Youngkin sued over masks-optional order by parents of kids with disabilities

A group of parents who have children with disabilities filed a federal lawsuit on Monday challenging Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s (R) executive order making masks optional in schools.

Parents filed the lawsuit in the U.S. District Court in the Western District of Virginia with representation from the Washington Lawyers’ Committee, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Virginia and other parties. The defendants named in the suit include Youngkin, who took office last month, as well as Virginia’s attorney general and the state’s superintendent of schools.

The lawsuit joins two others challenging the executive order that have been filed against Youngkin and other state officials since he signed it on day one of his administration.

The executive order gives parents the ability to elect for their children not to be subject to mask requirements in Virginia public schools. It overrode a previous mask mandate in the state implemented under the administration of former Gov. Ralph Northam (D).

In the latest lawsuit, parents are seeking a permanent injunction lifting the executive order. The lawsuit alleges that the order violates the Rehabilitation Act and the Americans With Disabilities Act as well as the portions of the U.S. Constitution.

“The Executive Order shows a reckless disregard for students with disabilities across Virginia,” said Kaitlin Banner, the deputy legal director for the Washington Lawyers’ Committee, in a statement on Tuesday.

“The order prevents schools from taking reasonable steps to make sure their students can go to school and enjoy the same educational experiences as their friends,” Banner continued.

Parents in this lawsuit have children with conditions such as cancer, cystic fibrosis, moderate to severe asthma, Down syndrome, lung conditions, and weakened immune systems, according to the Tuesday statement.

The Hill has reached out to the governor’s office for comment on this particular case. Youngkin previously defended his executive order in an op-ed published in The Washington Post last week.

“There is no one better to determine what is best for children, especially after two years of a pandemic, than their parents,” he wrote. “And only they should be able to decide whether wearing a mask in school is the right choice for their children.”

In a press release, the ACLU of Virginia said on Monday that the order prevents school districts from putting requirements in place that students with disabilities “need to attend school without risking their lives” and forces parents of such students to either place their child at risk or sacrifice their child’s education.

“By refusing to allow school districts to even consider whether to implement universal mask requirements as needed to protect the health and safety of the children they serve, the Governor’s order has placed unlawful barriers to educational access for students with disabilities,” Eden Heilman, the ACLU of Virginia’s legal director, said in a statement.

“The governor is preventing some of the state’s most vulnerable children from returning to, or remaining in, public schools,” Heilman said.