Virginia’s Attorney General Jason Miyares joined radio host Jeff Katz of The Jeff Katz Show on WRVA, where he expressed his dismay about Loudoun County Public Schools’ (LCPS) current mask mandate policy.
“I’ve gotta admit, that was pretty astonishing even coming from the Loudoun County administrators,” Miyares said.
He was referencing the news that an assistant principal of a Loudoun County elementary school threatened to have students charged with trespassing if they showed up to school without a mask. Those students, the assistant principal said, would also be suspended.
Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) banned school mask mandates on his first day in office, but LCPS has refused to comply.
“I mean, the fact that we’re in kind of this alternative universe where you can have a student who committed a violent sexual assault not be suspended from the school – but transferred to another school where a second alleged assault took place – that does not have a suspension, but a child that is simply trying to actually learn in school can face suspension over the fact that they want to empower parents to make that choice [is] astonishing,” Miyares told Katz.
Last year, details came to light about how LCPS allegedly covered up the rape of a female student by a transgender biological boy wearing a dress in a bathroom at Stone Bridge High School.
“I haven’t personally talked to those parents’ attorney, but one of the standards in a court of law is to show actual harm,” he said. “I think an assistant school principal saying that ‘we’re going to try to arrest a child and charge them with a Class 1 misdemeanor which is trespassing, punishable by up to 12 months in jail and a $2,500 fine – that’s a little bit of what I would say is going overboard.”
“So, we are telling everybody to trust the process – we’re confident in our legal strategy, but I think this is an example, sadly, of a lot of individuals in the Loudoun County School Board and Loudoun County administrators that are not listening to parents,” he continued. “That was the reason why Glenn Youngkin ran [for governor], that’s the reason why – you know, I ran a lot on that message as well – is we’re empowering parents.”
Miyares noted that parents can mask their children in school if they wish, but that those who do not want mask mandates to affect their children should not be punished.
“It’s unfortunate that this school administration – this school principal – has made these statements, and a little bit mind-boggling but we’re siding with parents,” he said. “Our office did file a motion to intervene on behalf of those Loudoun parents that filed a lawsuit to force Loudoun County to comply with the governor’s executive order.”
Miyares has also championed ending vaccine mandates at public universities, many of which have complied after he wrote a legal opinion saying such mandates were illegal.
“He also promised to be an attorney general that calls balls and strikes – and according to Virginia law, only the General Assembly can enact a statute that requires the COVID-19 vaccine as a condition of enrollment or in-person attendance, as it has with six other vaccines,” Miyares spokeswoman Victoria LaCivita told The Virginia Star Thursday.
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Pete D’Abrosca is a contributor at The Virginia Star and The Star News Network. Follow Pete on Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Jason Miyares” by Jason Miyares. Background Photo “Loudoun Schools” by Loudoun County Schools.
