SAN DIEGO鈥擜 judge ruled against the San Diego Unified School聽District Dec. 20 in a lawsuit challenging its vaccine mandate for students.
San Diego Superior Court Judge John Meyer said the district’s mandate,聽which does not permit religious or personal belief exemptions, contradicts聽state law, because implementing such mandates without exemptions can only be聽imposed by the state legislature.
Meyer also said that while students are required to receive some聽vaccinations in order to attend in-person school, adding COVID-19 to the list聽of required vaccinations without allowing personal belief exemptions is another聽area that lies only with the state.
Under the district’s roadmap, unvaccinated students must take part in聽remote learning via independent study. By the start of the district’s second聽semester on Jan. 24, unvaccinated students will not be allowed to continue with聽in-person instruction unless they have an approved medical exemption.
Meyer said that attendance in an independent study program must be聽voluntary, though such a program would be mandatory under the district’s聽roadmap.
Following further arguments Monday by attorneys for the school聽district and the plaintiffs, the local parents group Let m Breathe, Meyer聽confirmed his tentative ruling.
It is unclear whether the school district intends to appeal the order,聽which comes on the day district students were required to receive their聽second vaccine dose in order to be considered fully vaccinated and able to attend in-person instruction by the start of the second semester.
district’s mandate, which its board approved in September, was聽also challenged in a separate federal lawsuit filed by a Scripps Ranch High聽School student and her parents, who sought to block the mandate on religious聽grounds.
request was denied by a San Diego federal judge, and the decision聽was upheld by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. student’s attorneys聽have since asked the U.S. Supreme Court to intervene in the case.
Pezou : Judge Rules Against San Diego Unified in Student Vaccine Mandate Lawsuit