Associated PressAssociated Press
Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin announces that he is calling a Special Session of the Legislature on April 4, as he stands outside the Senate Chamber inside the State Capitol in Richmond, Va., Wednesday, March 23, 2022. The clock ran down during the regular General Assembly session without the Democrat-controlled Senate and GOP-controlled House reaching agreement on the state budget. (Bob Brown/Richmond Times-Dispatch via AP)

There is a city in Virginia. A federal judge has ruled that an executive order and a new Virginia law cannot prevent vulnerable students from seeking a reasonable modification of their education.

These students have health conditions that make them vulnerable to COVID-19, their parents say. They sued the governor and other state officials in February, arguing that the mask-optional policy effectively excludes some disabled children from public schools.

The judge granted part of the injunction sought by the parents. He said that the executive order and state law are still in effect, and that families of vulnerable children will have to make their own cases.

This is not a class action, and the twelve people who brought it have no right to ask the court to change the state law in their children's schools.

After being sworn in as governor, Youngkin signed an executive order that would have made masks optional in schools.

Confusion, pushback from school districts, and litigation followed. In February, the General Assembly took action, with a few Democrats joining Republicans in passing legislation banning local school systems from imposing mask mandates on students.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Virginia, the Disability Law Center of Virginia, the Washington Lawyers Committee and two private law firms were involved in the case.

The executive order and the new state law are likely to be challenged on the merits, as they prevent or limit the ability of the schools or school districts to consider the merits of the case.

The public interest is served by the school districts considering individual requests.

The injunction will remain in effect until a final decision is made in the litigation, the judge wrote.

The ruling confirms that parents have the right to make choices for their children, according to a statement from the Republican Attorney General.

The group sees the ruling as a victory and is thrilled for its clients.

She said that the ruling could serve as a "blueprint" for other students with disabilities in Virginia who could ask their school district for accommodations.

Heilman could not rule out the possibility of a class-action suit down the road.

The schools that were directly impacted by the judge's decision are: Brownsville Elementary School in Albemarle County, as well as Grassfield Elementary and Southeastern Elementary in Chesapeake, Enon Elementary in Chesterfield County, Cumberland Elementary in Cumberland County, and Stenwood Elementary in Fairfax County.

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