Upset parents sue Loudoun County School Board for continuing mask requirement

Debates over masking at Loudoun County school board meeting

A group of parents rallied outside the Loudoun County Public Schools headquarters ahead of tonight’s school board meeting. Fox 5's Perris Jones spoke to students who are choosing not to wear masks to school.

LOUDON COUNTY, Va. - Three Virginia parents have filed a lawsuit against the Loudoun County School Board for ignoring Governor Glenn Youngkin's new mask policy.

The suit, which was filed in a Loudoun Co. circuit court on Tuesday, names three plaintiffs: Kristen Barnett, Heather Yescavage, and Colin Doniger.

The parents want the school system to follow Governor Youngkin's Executive Order which allows a parental opt-out on student face masks in schools.

"Despite belatedly allowing students to return to Loudoun County Public Schools, the Board continues to demand that they wear restrictive facemasks for up to seven or eight hours a day — imposing physical, psychological, and developmental consequences that could be severe," the court documents state.

"Virginians are currently free to eat at restaurants, stroll shopping malls, go bowling, watch the NFL playoffs at a local tavern, and engage in innumerable other outdoor activities – all without wearing masks. Yet children in Loudoun County's public schools remain trapped in 2020-era pandemic policies that are increasingly difficult to justify as we approach the two-year anniversary of COVID-19's arrival in the United States."

Days after Governor Youngkin's decision to rescind the commonwealth's mask mandate, the Loudoun County School Board school system said in a statement that it had voted to continue the mandate, following the recommendation of Superintendent Scott Ziegler.

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So far, Loudoun County school district spokesperson Wayde Byard said no students have been sent home for not wearing masks. However, some could be facing suspensions.

Loudoun County Public Schools mask policy could lead to suspensions

Loudoun County Public School students are facing suspension if they show up to school without a mask. FOX 5's Stephanie Ramirez spoke to parents about the situation.

When students returned from winter break, those who refused to wear them were sent to the school auditorium, gym, or library where they could social distance and do virtual learning.

Byard mentioned that less than 200 out of LCPS' over 80,000 students were reported to have gone to school without a mask.

FOX 5 reached out to LCPS about the matter, and they declined to comment on the litigation.