(RepublicanWire.org) – Virginia’s new attorney general has slammed state school boards after a group of them filed a lawsuit demanding mask mandates for students remain in place.
As soon as he took office last Saturday, Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin (R) signed a series of executive orders, starting to carry out the promises he made on the campaign trail. One of them was an order to allow parents to exempt their children from school mask mandates for any reason.
Not all the state’s school boards were willing to accept the new rules, and on January 25 Chesapeake School District and six others filed a lawsuit against Youngkin. The suit claims the executive order violates a 2021 state law requiring school boards to offer in-person teaching that follows CDC guidance on anti-COVID measures “to the maximum extent practicable.” The suit argues it includes masks; Republicans – including physician and State Senator Siobhan Dunnavant, who helped write the state law – say it doesn’t.
Now, Attorney General Jason Miyares (R) has called out the school boards for double standards. He talked to Fox News on Monday and said the state will defend against the suit, and reminded viewers the school boards “stood by and stayed silent” when Youngkin’s Democrat predecessor closed schools, businesses and churches across the state.
If they didn’t think the action was exceeding the governor’s powers, asked Miyares, why are they suddenly outraged now?
