(Joshua Paladino, Headline USA) Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin issued an executive order on Jan. 15, his first day in office, that prevents local school districts from forcing students to wear face masks, and several far-left districts immediately responded that their mandates would remain in place.
Youngkin threatened to use the governor’s power to ensure that children in these districts can breathe without a health threat strapped to their faces.
“As parents and educators have observed, many children wear masks incorrectly, providing little or no health benefit,” the order stated.
“The masks worn by children are often ineffective because they are made from cloth material, and they are often not clean, resulting in the collection of impurities, including bacteria and parasites,” the order informed.
Schools districts in Richmond, Alexandria, Fairfax and Arlington counties announced their resistance to Youngkin’s order, Fox News reported.
@APSVirginia will maintain our current mask requirement for students, staff and visitors. Masks ? required inside our facilities and on school buses. Full post ➡️ https://t.co/VNWoSQKPeF
— Arlington Public Schools (@APSVirginia) January 15, 2022
“Universal mask use has proven effective in keeping COVID-19 transmission rates low in our schools and ensuring schools remain safe and open,” Arlington Public Schools said in a post.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki thanked Arlington Public Schools for resisting Youngkin’s directive.
Hi there. Arlington county parent here (don’t believe you are @GlennYoungkin but correct me if I am wrong). Thank you to @APSVirginia for standing up for our kids, teachers and administrators and their safety in the midst of a transmissible variant. https://t.co/6UeNIYoZCU
— Jen Psaki (@jrpsaki) January 17, 2022
Youngkin said the governor’s office will explore ways to force these rogue school districts to comply with the order.
Exclusive: Governor Youngkin on Arlington school system saying it will require masks, despite Youngkin’s order stating that schools can’t do that. He threatened to use state resources to force schools to comply – but we still don’t know what that means exactly. @WTOP https://t.co/5Lijz9kbgd pic.twitter.com/SnC4dcCIar
— Nick Iannelli (@NickWTOP) January 16, 2022
Youngkin said that Arlington Public Schools has not learned the lesson from the 2021 gubernatorial election—that parents, not administrators or health bureaucrats, have the right to make health decisions for their children.
“The fact that that tweet came out from Arlington County within minutes of my Executive Order, what that tells me, is they haven’t listened to parents yet,” Youngkin told reporters Sunday.
“So over the course of this week, I hope they will listen to parents, because we will use every resource within the governor’s authority to explore what we can do and will do in order to make sure that parents rights are protected,” he continued.
