Four Cobb County mothers recently appealed a federal judge’s decision not to impose Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommendations, including a mask mandate, on the Cobb County School District.
The parents, whose children have medical conditions that increase their vulnerability to COVID-19, are represented by The Southern Poverty Law Center, the Law Office of Allison B. Vrolijk and Goodmark Law Firm.
Masks have been optional in Cobb schools this academic year. The students in the lawsuit have medical conditions including acute myeloid leukemia and severe asthma. They have been receiving inadequate virtual education or no education this school year, a lawyer for the Southern Poverty Law Center said last month in oral arguments.
In a news release from the civil rights organization, Elizabeth Baird, who is suing on behalf of her child with Duchenne muscular dystrophy, said, “Online interactions are not the same as in person interactions. Isolating students with disabilities in virtual learning when that is not their choice — when they could attend class face to face with accommodations — is segregation. We’ve been trying to move away from segregating and isolating children with disabilities for too long to take steps backward now.”
The parents filed a federal lawsuit last month against the school district, Superintendent Chris Ragsdale and each of the seven members of the Cobb school board, alleging their children’s rights under the Americans with Disabilities Act and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act are being violated. U.S District Judge Timothy Batten of the Northern District of Georgia denied their request for a temporary restraining order and a preliminary injunction that would impose stricter COVID-19 protocols on the school district.
“We were confident the Court would recognize what COVID-19 data has shown for 18 months,” a district spokesperson said in a statement. “COVID-19 is complicated and personal health decisions, including mask wearing, are best made by people — not school districts.”
The appeal goes to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit.
This story has been updated to correct the name of the Goodmark Law Firm.
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