The Virginia branch of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) says it will challenge the state’s new law that requires schools to make mask-wearing optional.
In a tweet, the ACLU of Virginia shared a story that quoted Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) saying that he hopes there will not be any more legal challenges to efforts to lift mask mandates.
“We’ll see you in court, Gov. Youngkin,” it wrote.
We'll see you in court, Gov. Youngkin. https://t.co/GVMmP4j9R8
— ACLU of Virginia (@ACLUVA) February 17, 2022
The tweet comes days after Youngkin signed a bill that makes masking wearing optional in schools, as IJR reported.
“Children have not only suffered learning loss. They’ve suffered relationship loss,” Youngkin said on Wednesday. “And now’s our chance to give all parents the rights to make decisions that we know they have.”
He continued, “Today, we are re-establishing and restoring power back to parents. But we are also re-establishing our expectations that we will get back to normal. And this is the path.”
The bill signing comes as Youngkin’s executive order that made mask mandates optional is facing several legal challenges. Earlier this month, a judge temporarily blocked enforcement of his order.
Youngkin told Fox News before he signed the law that “there really isn’t the ability” for school districts to ignore the law and mandate mask-wearing.
“This bill is very clear. Any authority, whether it’s a local school board or a local board of supervisors or, by the way, the state government that wants to mandate masks, then parents will have the ability to opt-out if they think that’s the best thing for their child,” he said.
Last week, several states announced plans to drop mask mandates as the average number of new COVID-19 cases recorded per day has significantly decreased from last month.