By Mackenzie Mays 09/10/2020 06:36 PM EDT
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The California Supreme Court has thrown out two attempts to halt Gov. Gavin Newsom’s school closure orders in response to the coronavirus.
Petitions from the Orange County Board of Education and a slew of private and religious schools to overturn Newsom’s mandate to keep schools closed were denied review at a weekly conference held Wednesday by the state’s highest court.
The justices voted to deny the petitions without comment after considering whether the cases “present sufficiently important issues for review,” said Cathal Conneely, spokesperson for the California Supreme Court.
Advocates for Faith & Freedom, a nonprofit law firm specializing in religious rights, called the petition attempts “a rarely granted procedure” and said it plans to retry the cases through a more traditional process.
“While disappointing, it is not nearly the end of the road,” the firm said in a statement. “This decision has no effect of law. It simply means that we will have to resume the litigation by filing our claims in the superior courts instead of starting at the California Supreme Court.”
The legal action came after the governor in July shut down school campuses in counties with high Covid-19 rates until they can prove lower numbers of outbreaks and hospitalizations. More than 90 percent of the state’ s 6 million K-12 students remain in distance learning and live in counties forbidden from reopening schools in-person.
The Orange County Board of Education voted in July to sue Newsom over his mandated metrics that determine when schools can reopen. County education officials made waves prior to Newsom’s mandate when the board voted to allow in-person learning without masks and social distancing requirements despite public health guidance. Newsom’s rules stopped that from ever happening.
However, Orange County, the state’s third most populous, was given the green light by Newsom this week to reopen more indoor businesses and prepare to open schools due to declining coronavirus rates. Orange County can allow schools to reopen campuses in two weeks as long it maintains its coronavirus progress, but districts still have the final authority to make reopening decisions.
Another review denied Wednesday was led by Fresno County’s Immanuel Schools, which defied public health orders last month by bringing students on campus. Petitioners in that case included several religious schools, like Linfield Christian School in Temecula, and questioned the constitutionality and legality of Newsom’s school closure orders.
Harmeet Dhillon, national committeewoman from California for the Republican National Committee, said in an interview Thursday that the state Supreme Court’s decision will not deter her own efforts against Newsom’s school mandates.
Dhillon’s organization, the Center for American Liberty, filed a lawsuit in July on behalf of 10 California parents and students over the matter. Dhillon said the case does not yet have a hearing date scheduled.
“Our case has a different focus. It’s based on federal constitutional rights. We certainly believe strongly in the merits of our case,” Dhillon said, referring to Wednesday’s denials. “[Students] are being totally deprived of an education, and that’s tragic and unconstitutional.”
