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Virginia Superintendent Says Students Who Don’t Wear Masks Will Be Suspended, In Violation Of Governor’s Opt-Out Order

   DailyWire.com
Students arrive by bus at West Springfield High School on Monday January 10, 2022 in Springfield,, VA.
Matt McClain/The Washington Post via Getty Images

Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) Superintendent Dr. Scott Brabrand on Friday issued a 34-page “Principal Briefing” PowerPoint presentation at a meeting with school administrators that ordered them to suspend students who refuse to wear a mask.

Asra Nomani from Parents Defending Education posted the presentation on her substack, noting that Brabrand had gone “rogue” in defiance of newly minted Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s (R) executive order allowing parents to decide whether their child will wear a mask in school.

The presentation posted by Nomani noted that refusing to wear a mask would count as a “Dress Code” violation and be subject to suspension. Here are the details from the presentation, as Nomani wrote (emphasis original):

  • In slide No. 12, headlined, “R2109 Regarding Mask Refusal,” the school district instructed administrators: “Continue to follow existing regulations and practices. Any student who refuses to wear a face covering while indoors on school property or during FCPS-provided transportation, and who is not otherwise exempt will be precluded access to face-to-face instructional programming until they comply with the requirements of this regulation.”
  • Regarding “Intentional Removal / Refusal to Wear Face Covering,” he said: “Intentional removal of or refusal to wear a face covering during the times face coverings are required by all students will be treated as a violation of the Regulation 2613 (Student Dress Code). This includes indoors on school property and transportation.
  • This will result in an “SRR Violation of BSO7 (Dress Code),” and noted: “BSO3 (Refusal to comply with staff requests…) may be used as a secondary infraction code to document refusal despite redirection from staff.” The point has a big “NEW!” graphic beside it.
  • The “Response” will be swift with a “1 day OSS,” which means “Out of School Suspension” for students who don’t wear masks.
  • The briefing says: “1 day OSS for an infraction using the new SUS-M suspension code (this process will enable staff to monitor data regarding this unique situation and gives students the ability to return the next day to comply with the regulation).” “SUSP” is the typical code for a suspension.

As The Daily Wire reported, Youngkin on his first day in office issued Executive Order Number Two, which his office described as a “promise to empower Virginia parents in their children’s education and upbringing by allowing parents to make decisions on whether their child wears a mask in school.”

On Friday afternoon, the Virginia Department of Education and Virginia Department of Health issued their guidance that gave parents the right to decide whether their children would wear a mask or school or not, writing, “There is no medical reason for a vaccinated and/or masked teacher to treat an otherwise healthy unmasked student any differently than a healthy masked student.”

Nomani wrote that Superintendent Brabrand is “setting up a showdown with Gov. Youngkin–and parents.” She added that “parents in Fairfax County Public Schools started making phone calls to lawyers to explore filing lawsuits over their children being denied a public education.”

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