“This is a great day,” said Lateef.
Today in Richmond, the Virginia Senate passed an amendment from Fairfax Senator Chap Petersen (D) that gives parents the right to send children to public schools without a face mask. The bill now heads to the Republican-controlled House of Delegates and then on to Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R), who said he’ll sign the bill.
“In an overwhelming bipartisan show of support, the Senate of Virginia took a significant step today for parents and children. I applaud Senator Petersen’s amendment to give parents the right to decide whether their children should wear masks in schools,” states Youngkin in a press release.
The move comes a day after the Virginia State Supreme Court tossed out a lawsuit by a group of parents from Chesapeake challenging Youngkin’s Executive Order 2 that took effect January 24, granting parents the option to send children to school without masks.
Prince William County was one of seven school divisions around the state that sued for injunction for the order. On Friday, an Arlington Circuit Court judge ruled school divisions could keep mask mandates in place.
“Many people questioned Governor Youngkin’s executive order. They were unhappy that we decided to challenge his order and ask for an injunction on that order. And we opposed his order to demand that schools lift the mask mandate,” said Lateef.
“And it’s because we believe in local control. But if you do want to change things in Virginia, you can have the legislature…vote…and it looks like it worked.” said Lateef.
The Senate bill bars school divisions from demanding why they don’t want their children to mask up. However, the legislation still allows School Boards to implement mask mandates if they choose.
The move comes as more states led by Democrats, like Oregon, Connecticut, New Jersey, and Delaware, announced they are moving away from universal mask mandates in schools.
Locally, mask and vaccine mandates have proven unpopular with teachers and residents who have filled the rooms at school board meetings to protest the requirements. It’s also a congressional election year, as campaigning for the 2020 Mid-Term Elections in November is getting underway across the state.
If the bill becomes law, it will allow some children to get a glimpse at what life was like in the classroom before the pandemic.
“There are students in second grade who have never had a normal school year in the public school system. They haven’t seen the faces. And so for those students who it’s important to and those families who believe we should do this, I think it’s important to go ahead and make this move now, said Lateef.
“This is the right time. The [Omicron] urge has gone down on we’re safe. We have shown layers of mitigation have helped we’ve successfully navigated school for the last two years like this. We can continue. I believe we can do this, and it is time to move on.”
Prince William County is Virginia’s second-largest school division with 89,000 students.
